Thaksin's children or Ample Rich must pay Bt21bn
Ample rich Investments or its directors must pay almost Bt21 billion in tax from income earned on Shin Corp shares since 2003, the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) declared yesterday.
AEC Shin Corp share-probe committee chairman Viroj Laoha-pan said it was recommended the Revenue Department tax Ample Rich - or directors Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra - Bt20.98 billion. Tax should be at the full corporate rate because it was decided Ample Rich was a foreign company doing business in Thailand. The Thailand Securities Depository had charged the company 10 per cent tax on its dividends. But, the AEC believed the tax should be collected at the full 30 per cent. The British Virgin Islands-registered company earned revenue from dividends, the sale of Shin Corp shares and other income between 1999 and 2006. On April 2, the panel ruled Panthongtae and Pinthongta must pay combined taxes of Bt5.691 billion on the Bt16.295 billion earned from the January 23, 2006 sale of Shin stock to Temasek Holdings of Singapore. Viroj said the panel would now investigate if Ample Rich intended to avoid paying tax. AEC secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi denied the AEC was considering freezing assets of all involved in the share sale and under investigation for alleged irregularities. But he said neither the AEC nor the courts had ruled if the Shina-watra family was unusually rich. He explained the Legal Execution Department could freeze assets in tax cases, but if defendants appealed and deposited a surety this action could not be invoked. Assets can be frozen in cases where defendants are declared unusually rich. Committee spokesman Sak Korsaengruang also denied it would freeze the property and accounts of politicians and associates being investigated for corruption. Sak said there was no basis to the claims. The AEC had the power to freeze assets but it must act with caution and fairness in exercising it, he said. Assets would be frozen only if there was evidence those under investigation would try to transfer them, he said. A source who asked not to be named said on Sunday the AEC was considering such a move. The source said the committee would ask the Anti-Money Laundering Office to ban access to the assets of all involved in the Shin Corp share sale and the controversial Ratchadaphisek land purchase. Sak said the AEC would file a defamation complaint against Thai Rak Thai Party caretaker leader Chaturon Chaisang. Sak alleged Chaturon accused the AEC of being a "kangaroo court".
Budsarakham Sinlapalavan, Bancha Khaengkhan The Nation
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