The Auditor-General's Office will question senior officials at the Finance Ministry this week about their role in the non-payment of tax by members of the Shinawatra family in the sale of Shin Corp shares, a source said yesterday.

The office suspects that director-general of the Revenue Department Sirote Swasdipanich, deputy director-general Paitoon Pongkesorn, director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs Moreerat Boonyasiri, official Krich Vipulanusarn and ministry inspector-general Bengja Louichareon of helping two children of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra evade tax payment, the source said.

The office will request each of them to provide information relating to Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra's purchase of Shin Corp shares from Ample Rich Investment Ltd.

The Shinawatra family then sold their entire Shin Corp shareholding for Bt73 billion to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in January, without paying tax.

The deal caused a public outcry and led to the current political crisis.

A few days before the sale of the shareholding, Panthongtae and Pinthongta bought 329.2 million Shin Corp shares from Ample Rich for Bt1 apiece.

Ample Rich was created by Thaksin, the founder of Shin Corp, and registered in the British Virgins Islands, a well-known tax-haven.

Critics say Thaksin's two children should pay income tax worth Bt5.85 billion because they had a capital gain as the market price per share was Bt49 and the deal took place outside the stock market.

But the Revenue Department defended the Shinawatras, saying the deal should not be subject to tax payment because they bought the shares at less than the market price and held the securities.

The two later sold the shares through the stock market, giving them a tax exemption for capital gains received by individuals.

The ruling sparked criticism among tax experts at several universities, with many saying tax officials had discriminated in favour of the Shinawatras.

They pointed to a previous Revenue Department ruling which said that employees receiving shares from their employers had to pay tax, even though they had not yet sold the shares.

The department is insisting that this ruling should not be applied to the Ample Rich deal because the relationship between employer and employee has special legal aspects.

Critics, however, dispute this, saying the two were executives of Ample Rich so they also had legal obligations similar to those between employer and employee.

The Auditor-General made a first request for information in the case to the department last month but Paitoon turned it down, saying the request should have been more specific.

"This time we narrowed down our request and expect them to comply. If not, legal action will be launched against them [the Revenue Department]," said the source.

The daily newspaper Matichon last week revealed two letters between the department and a close aide of Thaksin's wife Khunying Pojaman, asking and replying about tax matters related to the Shin Corp deal.

Matichon suggested the department may have tried to help the Shinawatra family evade taxes.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation