CABINET APPROVES EXCISE WAIVER

       Consumers should be able to buy air-conditioners for 10 to 15 per cent less than current prices following the Cabinet's decision to approve a tax waiver, Deputy Finance Minister Pruttichai Damrongrat said yesterday.
       Manufacturers said they were ready to bring their retail prices down immediately, but only by the full amount for newly produced equipment.
       The Cabinet approved the Finance Ministry's proposal to waive excise duty on air-conditioners with a capacity below 72,000 British thermal units. After the 15-per-cent tax is waived, the retail price should fall by between 10 and 15 per cent, said Pruttichai.
       He said this would relieve some of the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises and would help local businesses compete against some air-conditioning units brought into the country but evading the duty.
       Somyos Kiratichivanant, managing director of Bitwise (Thailand), manufacturer and distributor of the Tasaki brand, said most manufacturers had a large level of old stock as sales had been slow due to the economic slowdown.
       "However, consumers expect prices to be cut immediately. So, we may slash the prices of our old stock somewhat in order to have a psychological impact and be competitive," he said.
       He said an old-stock air-conditioner currently priced Bt10,000 could be reduced to Bt9,000 to Bt9,500, but not to Bt8,500. The manufacturer would therefore still bear some loss.
       "It will not however be possible for units that are old inventory to be reduced by as much as 15 per cent from their previous price tag," said Somyos.
       He added that the company had a lot of stock for some of its Tasaki range and it could take until the end of the year to release it.
       However, prices could be lowered for some models immediately.
       Meanwhile, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said the ministry had been unable to submit its draft property tax bill for Cabinet consideration this month.
       He said the Fiscal Policy Office needed more time to gather public opinion from all interested parties, adding that private firms in the provinces also wanted to submit their own proposals to the ministry, said Korn.
       He pledged to submit the draft law to the Cabinet soon. It would then take about two or three months for the government's legal advisory body, the Council of State, to review the draft.
       Korn said the government may not therefore be able to submit the bill to Parliament in the current session.
       He ruled out any change to the tentative tax rates already proposed.
       According to the draft, residential units will be subject to an annual tax of 0.1 per cent of the property's value, while owners of land used for agricultural purposes will have to pay 0.05 per cent of the land's value and land for commercial use will be subject to a 0.1-per-cent tax.
       Undeveloped land will be taxed at 0.5 per cent over the first three years, rising to a maximum of 2 per cent over the next six years.