The department is tracing Thaksin Shinawatra’s assets both in Thailand and overseas and coordinating with relevant agencies on enforcement measures. (EPA Images pic)
BANGKOK: Thailand’s revenue department said it may pursue bankruptcy proceedings against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra if it is unable to fully recover 17.6 billion baht (US$538 million) in outstanding tax liabilities.
Following a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the tax assessment against him, the agency has continuously pursued collection efforts, acting revenue department director general Somsak Anuntawat said in a statement on Friday. That included issuing payment notices and investigating assets that could be seized or frozen to settle the tax debt.
Thaksin’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
The move follows a Supreme Court ruling late last year that found the tax assessment was lawful, making the liability final and legally enforceable. The department is currently tracing Thaksin’s assets both in Thailand and overseas and coordinating with relevant agencies on enforcement measures, Somsak said.
“If, after all enforcement measures have been exhausted, the outstanding tax liability remains unpaid in full, the department will consider initiating bankruptcy proceedings against Thaksin,” Somsak said in the statement. “We will continue to act within the legal timeframe and statute of limitations to safeguard the state’s interests.”
The 76-year-old patriarch of the Shinawatra clan walked out of a Bangkok prison last month after serving eight months of a reduced sentence for corruption. He is said to plan travel to Dubai after receiving a royal pardon that wiped out the remainder of his prison sentence, freeing him from the last of the travel curbs in place since his return to Thailand in 2023.
The Supreme Court late last year reinstated a tax penalty over Thaksin’s 2006 sale of his telecom company Shin Corp. to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte, overturning earlier rulings that had voided the Revenue Department’s claim.
Shin Corp.’s US$1.9 billion sale — executed without any tax payment — triggered widespread street protests that ultimately led to Thaksin’s ouster in a military coup. The tax bill essentially revives a long-standing dispute over unpaid personal income tax and allows enforcement proceedings to resume.
