"From they day they failed to pay the taxes, they are subject to fines of the same value as the subjected income tax. This is exclusive of the interest rate of 1.5 per cent per annum," the source said.

Panthongtae and Pinthong-ta failed to declare their taxable income after they bought 329.2 million shares of Shin Corp at the low price of Bt1 a piece from Ample Rich Investments in January 2006. Later, they sold those shares to a group of investors led by Singapore's investment arm Temasek Holdings at Bt49.25 a share, netting a differential of Bt48.25 a share.

At that time the Revenue Department said they did not need to pay any tax. The department reversed its stance after the coup in September last year.

The department, under a new chief, has recently completed an investigation into the tax issue, said the source.

"They should have paid taxes of Bt5.69 billion by April this year but they did not, so they have been fined, raising the total tax amount to Bt11.64 billion," according to the tax official.

The source said that both paid only Bt100,000 for their personal income earned in 2006.

Sanit Rangnoi, director-general of the Revenue Department did not confirm the tax amounts but said that tax officials had concluded the case.

He said the two have to pay the tax within 30 days. If they do not pay as ordered, the department has the authority to confiscate their assets.

Sirote Swasdipanich, the former chief of the Revenue Department, lost his job as a result of the case. He was ac-cused by the Assets Examina-tion Committee of failure to collect taxes from the two after the controversial transaction.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation