News No.   :  9/2009

Date             :  6 March 2009

Subject        :  Tax return fraud gang arrested.

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                         The Revenue Department discovered abnormal information regarding requests for personal income tax refunds submitted on internet system such as using one address to make several requests for tax refunds and claiming to receive commission fees and bank interests by providing withholding tax payment certificates for which there were no real tax payments. Such behaviours were believed to be one of the followings:

                         1. taxpayers did not receive commission fees or bank interests but filed personal income tax returns online and claimed for tax refunds by declaring false income and false withholding taxes;

                         2. taxpayers hired other people to open bank accounts, obtain ATM cards, and report back the PIN numbers where the taxpayers claimed that the PIN numbers would be used for online sales;

                         3. taxpayers filed personal income tax returns under the names of other people by reporting false income (commission fees and bank interests) and false addresses, which might be the same address or in the same area, where in fact these people never lived in the reported addresses nor received commission fees or bank interests and never filed personal income tax returns.

                         The Revenue Department, incorporation with Economic and Cyber Crime Division and High-Tech Crime Center, Royal Thai Police, conducted the investigation and finally arrested the gang involved in tax return fraud.

                         Mr. Vinai Vittavasgarnvej, Director-General of the Revenue Department, said “due to such actions, the Revenue Department issued refund cheques and sent to the reported addresses where all the bank account books, ATM cards and PIN numbers were in the hands of the criminals who would deposit the cheques and withdraw the cash from the ATM machines. Such crimes caused damages to the Revenue Department and the country’s economy and are considered as offences of cheating and fraud under Sections 341 and 269/5 of the Criminal Code and Section 14(1) of the Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550.”

                         Additional information related to the above offences

                         1. In the case of fraud, the sanction for one count will be imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or fine not exceeding 6,000 baht or both;
                         2. In the case of misuse of an electronic card, the sanction will be imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or fine not exceeding 100,000 baht or both;
                         3. In the case of crime under Section 14(1) of the Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550, the sanction will be imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or fine not exceeding 100,000 baht or both.