Thailand is preparing to review proposed taxes on gold trading and imports as the government moves to track and control illicit funds. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said officials will meet with the Gold Traders Association of Thailand later this week to go over the proposal. The measures form part of a broader campaign against what officials call grey money, run under a task force chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Ekniti said the tax is not intended to damage Thailand’s gold trading industry. Instead, officials want a system that gives them better tools to track what Ekniti called “grey” funds. The government is also targeting digital assets, including loopholes that let illicit funds move undetected. Right now, Thailand has already introduced stricter rules for online gold trading and is considering limits on cash payments for buying gold.
Ekniti Targets Gold Trading and Imports
Thai authorities are focusing efforts on both the gold trading business and gold imports. Ekniti said the government will discuss the proposals with the Gold Traders Association this week, and that rates would not be set high enough to damage the industry.
Their biggest concern is criminals using gold deals to transfer or conceal illicit funds. By imposing a tax and improving oversight, the government wants to make gold trades easier to monitor. That’s all part of a bigger plan to fight grey capital and other illegal financial activity.
The government is building a Data Bureau linking agency data through an Open API, giving officials a single view of suspicious activity across gold, digital assets, e-wallets, foreign exchange and cash.
Gold Traders Warn of Impact on Industry
Kritcharat Hiranyasiri, chairman of MTS Gold, said the association would argue against the tax, warning it could damage Thailand’s standing as a regional gold trading hub.
The association also wants the government to recognise gold trading’s role in generating financial flows, and will ask for infrastructure letting the public buy and sell gold in US dollars.
Still, government officials insist they don’t want to damage the sector. Ekniti said any tax would be designed to help authorities track grey funds but not at a level that would affect gold trading businesses.
The two sides also disagree on the baht. Officials link app-based gold trading to currency volatility, while the association argues gold activity supports the baht.
Existing Controls on Online and Physical Gold
Thailand has already tightened control over gold transactions. An amended Finance Ministry regulation lets the Bank of Thailand governor require gold shops to report transactions under the Exchange Control Act.
Anti-money laundering authorities have also been told to cut the mandatory reporting threshold for gold bar purchases from 2 million baht to a significantly lower level, to curb smurfing, where large sums are split into smaller transactions.
Officials are also considering restrictions on cash payments for buying physical gold bars at shops. If those limits are carried out, they’ll add one more layer of oversight to gold deals done outside of online channels.
Thailand has not announced final details of the proposed taxes. This week’s discussions with the Gold Traders Association are expected to focus on how to design the measures so that they’ll help authorities track grey funds without causing serious harm to the gold trading industry.
