Lottery winners to be charged 2% stamp duty instead of 0.5%

Lottery winners will have to be charged 2 percent stamp duty on the amount of their winning prizes under Revenue Code amendments to be submitted to the cabinet in May by the Revenue Department.

Revenue Department director-general Prasong Poontaneat said that the legal affairs unit of the department was in the process of amending the Revenue Code to increase the stamp duty on lottery winners from 0.5% to 2% of the amount of the prizes in order to keep up with the increased amount of prizes.

He noted that the 0.5% stamp duty had been in use for up to 36 years since the amount of First Prize was set at one million baht while the amount of First Prize now has been increased to six million baht.

He maintained that the 2% increase in stamp duty would not add too much a burden on the lottery winners because it represented just a small amount.

For instance, he said the charge of a two-digit lottery prize would be 40 baht for the prize of 2,000 baht instead of 10 baht as it is now, adding that lottery winners are not required to pay income taxes.