Youtubers, social media influencers and online vendors are to be taxed on advertising revenue, sales of merchandise or donations earned through their channels, according to Lawaron Saengsanit, director-general of Revenue Department.

He said that the Revenue Department is to include these individuals in the tax system after it has succeeded in bringing over 200,000 people engaged in online businesses into the system, noting that individuals who have an income of a certain level also have a duty to pay taxes.

He said that the department will, however, use technology to make it convenient and less complicated for those who have earnings from online businesses to pay taxes.

Nevertheless, he said that the department will help ease the tax burden on businesses which have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as many are still struggling to survive, noting that this relief plan will run on year-by-year basis.

As for the 2023 fiscal year, the Revenue Department has set a target to collect up to 2.2 trillion baht in taxes, with collection in the first four months of the fiscal year, since October, exceeding the target by 60 billion baht, due to increased corporate income and value-added taxes, mainly thanks to the recovery in the tourism sector.