Gold traders spared tax, but oversight urged

Thailand's Finance Ministry has decided against imposing taxes on gold trading for the time being. Instead, the ministry intends to collaborate with the Gold Traders Association to enhance oversight mechanisms and bolster efforts against money laundering, according to a prominent gold trader.

Krittikorn Silpachai, the ministry's permanent secretary, confirmed this policy direction after a meeting with the association. He stated that the ministry plans to establish a national-level committee. This committee will include the association and aim to connect financial data and trace suspicious money flows. This approach is preferred over immediate taxation, which traders feared could undermine the industry's global competitiveness, similar to concerns raised in Hong Kong and Singapore.

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The ministry plans to involve the association in a national-level committee to link financial data and trace suspicious money flows.

Gold holds significant strategic importance for Thailand, ranking second in terms of export and import value relative to GDP. The ministry's focus is on combating illicit activities, including "gray capital" and funds used for illegal purposes. A national mechanism has been operating for over six months to tackle these issues.

The ministry also discussed creating an intelligence platform with the Bank of Thailand and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau. This platform would help assess customer risk and close gaps in financial trails, ensuring authorities can identify the source of funds used for gold purchases and track subsequent transactions. The goal is to prevent complex schemes designed to launder money through high-liquidity assets like gold.

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Taxation could undermine the industry's competitiveness against global trading hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore.