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Tax breaks for property buyers will become effective today with the official publication in the Royal Gazette, according to Suparut Kawatkul, the Finance Ministry's permanent secretary.

Three laws would become effective, with the first reducing specific business taxes for property operators to 0.1% from 3% for transactions occurring over the next year.

The second law will increase waivers for individual taxpayers to the first 150,000 baht in income from 100,000 baht now, effective for the 2008 tax year. The increase will effectively reduce withholding taxes for individuals immediately.

The third law affects tax calculations for small companies with paid-up capital of less than five million baht, with the first 150,000 baht in income waived from corporate taxes. Profits after the first 150,000 will be charged under the normal ladder scale at rates from 15% to 30%.

The Interior Ministry has also announced that land transfer and registration fees will be cut to 0.01%, effective today.

The measures are part of a 40-billion-baht economic stimulus programme announced earlier this month by the government.

This article was first published in The Bangkok Post 29th March 2008