1. Culture of taxation: The new approach for an efficient tax collection Pakarang Chuenjit PhD Candidate at Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand pagarang.ch@gmail.com

2. 1.Statement of the problem 2.Purpose and research question of the study 3.Theoretical framework 4.Methodology 5.Results and analysis 6.Summary

3. Government cannot collect all the taxes that are under the statutes owed to them. The average effective tax rate in Thailand during the period is only 16.5 percent of GDP. Table 1 : Thailand Taxes as percentage of GDP (Billions of Baht) Year 200720082009 Taxes Revenue 1,473.3 1,586.7 1,481.8 Gross domestic product, (GDP)* 9,037.8 9,658.7 9,571.4 Taxes/GDP16.316.415.4 *Gross Domestic Product at current market prices Source : Government Finance Statistics Yearbook 2010, International Monetary Fund; Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board One primary reason for this is “the culture of taxation”

4. The main objective is to discover patterns of tax culture and their relation with the effectiveness of tax collection in Thailand. The second objective is to propose the strategies for tax collectors in order to collect tax more efficiently. It is hypothesized that the considerably low level of tax compliance can be explained by the “culture of taxation” in the Thai society. The research question directs to the nature of tax compliance in Thailand.

5. The values and attitudes of taxpayers. The behavior of taxpayers. The Culture of taxation can be observed and investigated its patterns of relationships through symbols, signs and the actions of players in tax system. “A phenomena that refers to the values, expectations, and behaviors which have been embedded in the relationship between taxpayers”

6. Personal income tax has been selected as the study area. Two hundred taxpayers who files personal income tax for the year 2012 from five different regions were chosen to answer the questionnaires. Multi - stage random sampling was used to find the representative of the population.

7. The information about personal income taxpayers’ behavior was used to determine the patterns of culture of taxation in Thailand. Three types of behavior were calculated.

8. Attitudes of Taxpayers Group tSig. S.D Attitude towards taxesFiled tax correctly Filed tax incorrectly 1. Paying tax is a responsibility that should be willingly accepted by all Thais. 4.810.444.730.471.340.21 2. Tax is necessary for country’s development. 4.740.554.630.611.360.22 Attitude towards tax authorities Declare Income Completely Declare Income Incompletely 1. Government spends more money than it earns and jeopardize for country. 3.741.144.390.784.30.005 2. Most politicians and civil servants have been corrupted and no longer work properly. 3.921.34.450.982.950.005 “The attitudes towards taxes and tax authorities related to the behaviors of taxpayers”

9. “The culture of taxation is directly related to the amount of tax revenue”

10. The major pattern of the taxpayers’ culture in Thailand is tax avoidance. Attitudes or perceptions towards tax system and tax authorities affected the behaviors of taxpayers. The culture of taxation is directly related to the amount of tax revenue. The government should promote the importance of taxes to their citizens and build the positive attitudes towards taxes and tax authorities. The improvement of tax administration is required. Tax authorities should work with more accountability. Corruption in tax system should be eradicated

11. Thanks!