Thailand’s Excise Department plans to introduce a salt tax within the next year as part of efforts to curb excessive sodium consumption. The measure will follow a tiered structure, imposing higher taxes on products with elevated sodium levels.
Kulaya Tantitemit, director-general of the Excise Department, explained that Thai citizens currently consume double the recommended amount of sodium, necessitating regulatory intervention. The initiative mirrors the department’s sugar tax, introduced 7–8 years ago, which successfully incentivized manufacturers to reduce sugar content in their products.
Initially, the salt tax is expected to target non-essential items like snacks. Kulaya assured that the policy would be implemented gradually to minimize the impact on businesses. She emphasized that products with lower sodium content would face reduced taxes compared to those with higher levels, creating an incentive for healthier production practices.
In addition to the salt tax, the department is exploring changes to the battery tax structure to promote environmental sustainability. The revised tax rates will consider factors such as energy density and battery life cycles. Lighter batteries with higher energy outputs and those capable of more charge cycles will be taxed at a lower rate, while less efficient models will incur higher rates.
For fiscal 2025, the Excise Department has been assigned a tax collection target of 609 billion baht, representing a 16% increase from the previous year.
