The Thai government announced that it has new plans to use blockchain technology. The main intention is to tackle tax fraud and evasion. The decision was taken by Ekniti Nitithanprapas, Director-general at the Revenue Department. This information was released by the Bangkok Post a few days ago.
Thailand to Implement new Blockchain System
Blockchain technology continues to expand in many different industries. The benefits of this technology have even attracted national governments. According to Mr Nitithanprapas, distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be used to improve the tax collection system.
Although DLT is very powerful and useful, it will be working side by side with machine learning (AI) systems. Blockchain technology will be used to verify taxes and speed up tax refunds. Additionally, machine-learning will be used to fight tax evasion and tracking the funds in a more transparent way.
In general, Thailand has been an open-minded country towards DLT and virtual currencies. Nations such as China or India have taken very restrictive and hard measures with these technologies.
At the same time, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the country announced a new regulatory system for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). The new regulations started to take effect earlier this year on July 16. Those interested in running an ICO would have to be registered with the local authorities.
The SEC informed about ICO projects that apply for a license:
“The ICO acceptance criteria may include due diligence and screening of funders from dishonest people. The source code of the smart contract will automatically be enforced against the contract. After the sale, the SEC publishes a copy of the statement on the SEC website.”
Nevertheless, the financial watchdog of the country warned users about investing in ‘renegade ICOs.’ These ICOs are being advertised in the region using different means. Some of these ICOs include OneCoin, OFC Coin and Every Coin.
It is very positive to see that there are countries moving toward virtual currency adoption. The largest the amount of government acting in this way, the easiest for virtual currencies to gain mass adoption.
Carlos is an international relations’ analyst specializing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Since 2017, Carlos has written extensively for UseTheBitcoin and other leading cryptocurrency sites; with over 2,000 articles published.
