Thai Revenue Department to use blockchain to track taxes

[SnowAugustine]

The Thai Revenue Department will use blockchain technology to track tax payments, with the aim of preventing tax avoidance. The project would use the technology to verify tax payments and help streamline the refund process. Blockchain will be deployed alongside machine learning.

Following the country’s move to partially regulate its crypto market, it was reported that more than fifty companies (as of August) had expressed interest in obtaining an ICO license to operate in the country. An additional twenty companies applied to operate as digital asset exchanges.

https://cryptonewsreview.com/thai-revenue-department-to-use-blockchain-to-track-taxes/

Are there any other countries who are already doing this? This seems to be a very great way to make sure on being able to track everything and that no corruption is gonna happen. Hopefully.

[Sherwood_Archer]

woah! I wasn't expecting something like this from Thailand. Great for them! This is one of the best things for blockchain to be used in - tracking taxes! The government want to know who are paying the right taxes. People want to know what's happening with it.

[Kemarit]

Here are example from Canadian government using blockchain to track everything.

1. NRC-IRAP - Blockchain publishing prototype. Although it is still a prototype, but you will get the importance of using blockchain specially in government sector. I think one advantage is that everything is transparent, as in this case. For Thailand though, it will be easy to track and even tax payers can have access to that private ledger so that they can check if they have paid the right tax or have tax refunds. Or if tax payers will not have access, at least those tax collectors will have a central repository to look at and they can easily chase those who are not paying tax. Their job could well be very easy. 

[SnowAugustine]

Here are example from Canadian government using blockchain to track everything.

1. NRC-IRAP - Blockchain publishing prototype. Although it is still a prototype, but you will get the importance of using blockchain specially in government sector. I think one advantage is that everything is transparent, as in this case. For Thailand though, it will be easy to track and even tax payers can have access to that private ledger so that they can check if they have paid the right tax or have tax refunds. Or if tax payers will not have access, at least those tax collectors will have a central repository to look at and they can easily chase those who are not paying tax. Their job could well be very easy. 

This sounds good. Well done for Canada to make things transparent in their government by using blockchain. Same goes to Thailand. What are the chances for the US to follow something like this though? Maybe if the US does it, more countries would follow and government transparency through blockchain would be the norm.

[magneto]

I don't think that this will make much of a difference to people who pay their taxes regularly. There is a lack of information when it comes to how exactly blockchain will be incorporated into the tax verification process, but it certainly seems like it would increase the reliability and integrity of the entire system.

And it's not just tracking taxes either. A lot of other countries are exploring using blockchain technology to issue their own national tokens/cryptocurrencies.

Whether this is good or bad is up to debate, but I'd personally not be too excited with all these centralised projects that simply use blockchain. It really means nothing in terms of the development of decentralised currencies imho.