Thailand gives excise tax exemption to petroleum industry

The Thai government announced an excise tax exemption for the petroleum and petrochemical industries in February to help boost domestic production. Plants that use benzene and diesel fuel for production were told to connect their database systems to the government Excise Department’s (ED) online data system and make their inventories and equipment available for inspection and approval by the ED. The law also requires petroleum blending-only factories to be located inside a government-designated Industrial Free Zone, as facilities and goods produced in such zones are considered eligible for tax and duty privileges. (March 11, 2009)