THE Revenue Department issued a Bt17.6-billion tax demand to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday, kicking off a legal battle which experts said could drag on for at least 10 years, with Thaksin ultimately losing.

Department officials left the summons document in front of the Chan Song La residence on Charansanitwong Road in Bangkok that Thaksin vacated years ago. It calls on him to pay back taxes and fines of Bt17.63 billion.

Thaksin has the right to appeal against tax assessments within 30 days to the Tax Appeal Commission, which is made up of the Revenue Department chief and representatives from the Office of Attorney General and Interior Ministry.

“Given the current political situation, in which officials do not dare dispute the junta-appointed government’s directions, Thaksin stands to lose any appeal,” an informed source at the Finance Ministry predicted.

The source noted the government’s order to the Revenue Department to take action after it had long been reluctant to do so.The government had instructed it to issue a summons before a March 31 deadline.

If the Tax Appeal Commission rules against Thaksin, he could then appeal to the Central Tax Court.

And if the Tax Court also delivers a verdict against Thaksin, he could lodge a further plea to the Specialised Court of Appeal. The case should then be final, with just a slim chance of it ending in the Supreme Court.

The whole legal fight could take about six to 10 years before the final judgement.

“Tax legal cases take 10 years on average,” said another tax expert, who preferred not to be named.

Usually the Revenue Department wins such cases – or amends the Revenue Code after any matters that it loses.

In addition, from now on, the head of the Revenue Department has the power to order a seizure of Thaksin’s assets without a court order. This authority is stipulated in section 12 of the Revenue Code, the source said.

Thaksin, however, could also appeal against asset seizures and apply for an injunction from the Tax Appeal Commission.

The controversial tax liability is considered to have been incurred from the sale of Shin Corp shares in 2006 – a deal that fired huge anti-government protests at that time.

Previously the Revenue Department demanded tax payments of Bt 11.3 billion from Thaksin’s children Panthongtae and Pinthongta by arguing that they had made capital gains from buying 329.2 million shares at Bt1 baht each, when the market price was Bt49.25. Those shares were offered by Ample Rich Investments Ltd, which was owned by Thaksin.

In late 2010, the Central Tax Court ruled in favour of his children by referring to a verdict of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

Earlier in 2010, the Supreme Court, on grounds of conflict of interest, ordered the seizure of Bt46 billion of Thaksin’s assets, after finding that the 329.2 million shares belonged to Thaksin and that his two children were merely his nominees.

Meanwhile, Noppadon Pattama, a lawyer to Thaksin, said yesterday that the legal team would appeal the assessment, arguing that Thaksin had no tax obligation.

He said this was based on the Supreme Court’s ruling that those shares belonged to Thaksin – so, there was no share transaction.

When Temasek Holdings of Singapore took over Shin Corp, Thaksin’s capital gain via share transactions in the Stock Exchange of Thailand was exempt from tax, he said.

Noppadon also argued that the tax assessment deadline had expired and vowed to bring the case to the tax court to defend Thaksin’s liability. Thaksin would also file charges against officials in the criminal court for malfeasance, he said.

In a related development, the Auditor General said yesterday it had successfully audited additional tax payments worth Bt24.3 billion, including its effort to collect more than Bt17 billion from Thaksin.

The office said tax collectors had been urged to collect and pursue tax payments from individuals and businesses since it established its auditing task force in 2016. It said it has ordered the Revenue Department to collect the Bt17 billion in back-taxes from Thaksin.