Shinawatra siblings to fight ruling all the way
Noppadol Pattama, the Shinawatra family's lawyer, said yesterday that the family would fight the Asset Examination Committee's (AEC) tax action against Panthongthae and Pinthongta Shinawatra through to the highest court.
The AEC has no authority to conduct tax appraisals, he said, adding that only the Revenue Department is empowered to do so. However, Sak Korsaengruang, the AEC spokesman, said the panel had strictly followed the Revenue Code's Section 40 (2) in demanding the two members of Shinawatra family pay Bt6.5 billion in back taxes on the earlier sales of Shin Corp shares to the Ample Rich company. According to the AEC and the Revenue Department, both Panthongthae and Pinthongta - son and daughter of ousted premier Thaksin - failed to pay the combined amount in personal income taxes and fines when they did the transactions with Ample Rich. Sak, former president of the Law Society of Thailand, said the previous chief of the Revenue Department, Sirote Sawadipanich, had cited Section 40 (8) of the Revenue Code, resulting in the failure to levy the huge tax bill on the two Shinawatra offspring. "The previous decision could be regarded as a legal abuse, so the AEC had to review the case," said Sak, adding that the final verdict will be delivered by the court. Noppadol said the Shinawatra family had insisted it would contest the case to the Supreme Court.
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