Page 8 - Annual Report 2021

06
As we witness a surge of the Coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic which has continuously disrupted the country’s economic and social activities, the Excise Department is fully aware of the importance of assisting the general public and the people in consistent with the Ministry of Finance’s policy in collaboratively support and provision of public health services.
This is made possible owing to the Excise Community Isolation (ECI) Center, which allows for shelters and quarantine facilities for patients with mild symptoms (Green Category) in the communities and areas immediately adjacent to the department to help alleviate communal spread, allowing them to access early care system quickly. The ECI also has handed out alcohols and face masks to medical and public health agencies in their treatment of infected residents in these communities. The department also pays attention to the good health of its personnel to comply with the Covid-19 epidemic surveillance, prevention and control protocol and a strict enforcement of the D-M-H-T-T principle, while also issuing a Work-from-Home measures. Without hesitation, our officials and personnel have received vaccination, been issued with Covid insurance and received Antigen Test Kits (ATKs) in an attempt to prevent and decrease potential spreading in the department.
The department is forging ahead with its four strategies of 1) Use of innovation for sustainable tax collection, 2) Increased tax collection efficiency for societal, environmental and energy benefits, 3) Innovation promotion conducive to current social changes and 4) Organisation development towards Digital Government.
By applying these strategies, it is expected they will put the department on its path to become an organisation that contributes to improved quality of life and social quality via respective campaigns to encourage clean energy use to serve the Green Economy which is a crucial component of Thailand’s national economic development model comprising Bioeconomy, Circular Economy and Green Economy as the mechanism for the country to revive the economy to normalcy expediently. The Green Economy can be achieved by an introduction of important tax measures, namely reduction of jet fuel excise tax rate, which will help spur domestic tourism industry and ease the impact of insolvency in the commercial aviation and tourism sectors. Moreover, the department has responded to the government’s policy to make greater use of farm products as raw materials for renewable energy to reduce demands for crude oil imports, increase energy security and boost farm product prices. To this end, the department has introduced several positive measures, such as announcing a zero percent excise rate on Renewable Diesel (RD), revising excise rate on tobacco to help local farmers and imposing limits on consumption of cigarette-type tobacco products as well as extending of new excise rates on beverages and beverage products in powder or flake form or soluble concentrated drinks with sugar contents by another year to October 1, 2022, in order to lessen the cost of living facing the people and to remediate the manufacturers to continue their operation in light of the domestic economic slow-down.
Navigating the challenges caused by the risks associated with a new wave of Covid-19 epidemic, the department has seen total tax collection amount in the fiscal year 2021 falling short of the estimated amount contained in the budget proposals. However, the Excise Department had embarked on a concerted effort to modernise and boost stability of its information technology (IT) capability to efficiently implement a variety of activities consistent with the Digital Government policy. Chief among them is the use of innovation and IT to boost tax collection efficiency, for example, the Date Lake and Data Analytic Model and the Business Intelligence and the development off fuel products tax payment surveillance and control system, using Block Chain technology, liquor and tobacco (cigarettes) e-Stamp and Direct Code system which delivers an efficient chilled liquor-beers tax collection.
Thanks to these innovations, the department’s Excise Smart Service has won the following awards: Third Prize, the Digital Government Award, service-oriented department-level category; Best Practice Award-Advanced Grade, in Award Public Sector Management Quality Award (PMQA 4.0) category; and three Best Practice Awards, Public Sector Service category, namely Outstanding Grade for service convenience improvement and service development, two Good Grade, from 1. One Stop e-Service and 2. Liquor, tobacco and card licence application at Krungthai Bank branches and all 7-Eleven shops. In addition, technology application has been widely used to facilitate operation under the new normal while officials and personnel are encouraged to take up e-Learning courses continuously to raise spirits and boost morale, therefore improving their working life quality.
On this occasion, I’d like to express my admiration and praise to the senior officials and each and every personnel of the Excise Department , who have worked tirelessly and intelligently and adjust themselves to the new normal while at the same time demonstrating great potential, thus making possible the positive implementation and achievements of the department’s responsibilities. I sincerely wish that this concerted cooperation from all will be forthcoming in driving our organisation towards Government 4.0 as per the Excise Department’s vision of “The Leader of tax collection for Society, Environment and Energy” to enable the development of the Thai economy together with caring for society and environment stability to achieve development stability and sustainability.
(Mr. Lavaron Sangsnit) Director General