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The Revenue Department sets Rules and Procedures on Electronic Documentary Evidence and/or Letters

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The Revenue Department sets Rules and Procedures on Electronic Documentary Evidence and/or Letters

Although the Revenue Department has been encouraging taxpayers to file returns and documents electronically for more than 20 years,  there have never been any actual measures put in place to support document storage in the electronic format. This can be seen from the Revenue Department Order No. Por.121/2545, under which, although the Revenue Department accepts electronic storage of documents, the documents must also be in paper form until 2022 so that they are ready for inspection by officials of the Revenue Department if requested.

Considering the above, the Revenue Department deems it necessary to set rules and procedures on electronic documentary evidence and/or letters in Ministerial Regulation No. 384 B.E. 2565 (2022) (“MR 384”), which has been effective as of 19 August 2022.

1. The key details of said MR 3384 are as follows:

Documentary evidence and/or letter” means any document or letter that the taxpayer or any person must have, prepare or use, as prescribed under the Revenue Code or used in correspondence with the Revenue Department.

Form” means a tax return form under the Revenue Code, including any other forms the Director-General orders to be prepared.

Service provider of electronic data processing or delivery thereof” means a person who is allowed and assigned by a taxpayer to prepare, send or maintain forms, reports, accounts, tax invoices, receipts, documentary evidence or any other documents via the Revenue Department's electronic system.

2. Electronic operations of the Revenue Department

MR 3384 also stipulates that the electronic system of the Revenue Department must have processes in place for the following:

(1) A method used to prove and verify the identity of any person, which must meet the standards in accordance with the law on electronic transactions[1];

(2) A method by which the identity and ownership of the signature certifying the message in electronic data can be identified;

(3) A process of making documentary evidence and/or letters, which must be in a format that can be easily referenced later in its entirety;

(4) Security;

(5) A clear deadline for filing or submitting documentary evidence and/or electronic letters; and

(6) A method of notifying the receipt of documentary evidence and/or letter.

The electronic storage of documents submitted to the Revenue Department must use a reliable method; the document must remain in the same format it was received in, and the meaning must remain unchanged when subsequently accessed according to the standards announced by the Director-General.

3. Method and criteria for preparing documentary evidence and/or letters used in correspondence with the Revenue Department

3.1 The preparation and filing or submission of documents may be carried out by electronic means, or can be operated through the electronic system of the Revenue Department;

3.2 Any person who wishes to be a service provider for the preparation or delivery of electronic data must apply to the Director-General for permission to use the electronic system and, after consideration, the Director-General shall announce a list of authorised service providers for producing or delivering electronic data. The Director-General also has the power to refuse or cancel permission, as well as remove names from such announcements;

3.3 Documents and/or letters shall be provided in a form that is accessible and reusable without changing the meaning therein according to the standards announced by the Director-General;

3.4 The filing or submission of electronic documentary evidence shall be deemed to be received by the Revenue Department when the documents are submitted electronically. The Revenue Department must issue evidence confirming the receipt of documents, and it shall be deemed that the submitter of the document certifies the authenticity of the document; and

3.5 Except in the case of receipts under Clause 4.8, documentary evidence and/or letters prepared according to the Revenue Code or stored and had original  form as electronic data or later converted to the form of electronic data shall be kept in accordance with the rules stipulated under the law on electronic transactions.

4. Method and criteria for preparing tax invoices and receipts

4.1 Unless clearly  specified otherwise, the preparation, transmission or storage of tax invoices or receipts shall be carried out in the same way as documentary evidence and/or letters used in correspondence with the Revenue Department;

4.2 A VAT registrant, a person who has the duty to issue a receipt or its agent or service provider may prepare, send or maintain tax invoices or receipts by electronic means. There must be an information security system in place, in order to assure the completeness and accuracy - the same as when creating, sending or receiving documents, and checking for changes to information in the tax invoice or receipt;

4.3 The tax invoices or receipts prepared by electronic must not change the meaning and the tax invoices or receipts must comply with the following rules:

(1) Electronic signature on the tax invoice or receipt must use an electronic certificate in accordance with the specified rules;

(2) Use a reliable method so that the text can be displayed later without changing the meaning and the information in the tax invoice or receipt can be checked for correctness; and

(3) There is a form, size and type of electronic data as announced by the Director-General
 

4.4 An authorised person shall sign electronically in the case where an agent is assigned to produce a tax invoice or a receipt in the name of the registrant;

4.5 Deliver the tax invoice or receipt to the purchaser of goods or service recipients by electronic means.

If the buyer or the recipient of the service do not wish to correspond or send such forms electronically, they can be printed out and sent physically instead, by specifying in that forms that such information have also been sent to the Revenue Department electronically;

4.6 Except in the case of abbreviated tax invoices, the preparation of a receipt for an electronic tax invoice must contain information as specified under Section 86/4, Section 86/9, Section 86/10 and Section 105 bis of the Revenue Code, which must be submitted to the Revenue Department electronically within the fifteenth day of the following month;

4.7 In order to cancel the original tax invoice or receipt, and get a new tax invoice or receipt for delivery to the purchaser or service recipient issued, the new tax invoice or receipt must contain the following additional details:

(1) Message of revocation of the original tax invoice or receipt;

(2) The number and date of the original tax invoice or receipt; and

(3) A brief explanation of the reason for the preparation of a new tax invoice or receipt.
 

4.8 Keeping tax invoices or receipts that have been made or received by using a reliable method. The text in the document is accurate and persists as it was at the time it was created, sent or received, and is accessible without alteration.

4.9 It shall be deemed that the VAT registrant or the person with the duty to issue a receipt that has been authorised by the Director-General to prepare or submit a tax invoice or receipt by electronic means prior to the date upon which the MR 384 comes into force, is a person on the list notified by the Director-General.

Please see more details of additional rules and procedures in the Ministerial Regulation No. 384 (B.E. 2565 (2022))

The author considers it most gratifying that the Revenue Department has issued measures to support the preparation, submission and preservation of documents, evidence and/or electronic letters submitted to the Revenue Department in order to fully support the current digital era, as well as to support the reduction of paper and other resources; thereby helping tremendously with environmental concerns. Therefore, all entrepreneurs who have implemented this criterion will be considered an important participant in helping to reduce global warming problems as well.


 

[1] Electronic Transactions Act B.E. 2544 (2001)

Authors

プティマ・クードシリー

Budhima provides advice on tax compliance and a wide variety of tax-related work. In particular, she has extensive experience with accounting transactions and tax planning. Further, she has handled tax counseling and tax controversies and has substantial experience representing and advising individuals and major corporations in tax disputes, including filing appeal letters for tax assessments, which were assessed by the Revenue Department, the Customs Department, the Excise Department, and local tax collection agencies such as those dealing with land and building tax. In addition, she has more than 10 years of experience as a public speaker and columnist for tax magazines, focusing on tax planning and tax compliance for individuals and companies seeking to maximize their tax privileges under Board of Investment (BOI) promotion and accounting adjustments to comply with Thai tax laws.

Budhima was a columnist for the Tax Documentation Journal, the No. 1 public journal related to accounting and taxation published by Dharmniti Press Co., Ltd., and she is also the author of “Differences and similarities between accounting profit and taxable profit,” a book that has been published twice.