THE CABINET has asked the Revenue Department to collect tax, which could amount to Bt16 billion, from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over the controversial sale of Shin Corp.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that he would not use his special powers under Article 44 of the interim constitution to meddle in the Shin Corp case.

Involved state agencies had agreed on Monday that normal legal procedure would be applied to this tax case, he said, referring to a meeting of representatives from the Auditor General’s Office, the Finance Ministry, the Council of State and the Anti-Money Laundering Office.

He said the government followed the advice given by the Auditor General, who suggested collecting tax payable from the sale of Shin Corp shares. Admitting that the issue was legally complicated, Prayut said the Revenue Department would have to proceed with collecting the tax by the end of the month.

‘Fight legal case fairly’

“The Revenue Department may be or not be able to collect taxes but eventually the case should be brought to the court, where concerned parties can fight the legal case fairly. I did not want to attack anybody personally,” he said.

Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the next move was the Revenue Department’s responsibility, but if Thaksin did not agree to pay the taxes due then the case would be taken to court.

The Auditor General has pressed the Finance Minister and the head of the Revenue Department since last year to collect taxes linked to the sale from the Shinawatra family, estimated to be worth between Bt12 billion and Bt16 billion.

The family sold its majority holding in Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore in early 2006.

The Revenue Department, in response to the Auditor General’s request, said that it could not act, as the assets had been seized by the Supreme Court and the time limit for a tax summons had expired.

There have been many twist and turns in the Shin Corp tax saga.

It started in early 2006 when Ample Rich Investments Ltd, owned by Thaksin, sold 329.2 million shares to his son Panthongtae and daugther Pinthongta at Bt1 a piece, when the market price for a single share was Bt49.25.

Within a few days, Temasek, a wealth fund of the Singapore government, took control of the telecom conglomerate, a business worth Bt73 billion.

Capital gains arising from stock trading are exempt from personal income tax, according to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.

Later, the Revenue Department demanded that Thaksin’s children pay Bt11.3 billion from capital gains, based on the difference between the true value of shares they bought and the price they paid.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders ruled to seize Thaksin assets worth Bt46 billion in February 2010. In December of the same year, the Central Tax Court rejected the Revenue Department’s request for payment of tax from Thaksin’s children.

In 2015, the National Anti-Corruption Commission took out a criminal case against former senior tax officials and others, accusing them of helping Thaksin’s children to evade tax.

Last year, the Criminal Court sentenced four former senior tax officials to three years in prison for helping Thaksin’s children dodge tax. The Auditor General then sent a letter to the Finance Minister and head of the Revenue Department, ordering them to collect tax from Thaksin’s family.