By Thai Newsroom Reporters
NO LESS THAN 100,000 small-sized retailers and vendors so far have reportedly agreed to join the Pheu Thai-initiated digital wallet project, said Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat today (Aug. 8).
Julapun said he believed many more grocery retailers, food and beverage vendors and restaurant owners in addition to the estimated 100,000 merchants who have already offered to join the 10,000-baht digital wallet project will follow suit by registering themselves accordingly with the Ministry of Commerce from Oct. 1.
Julapun downplayed sustained concerns among small-sized merchants over a retroactive collection of personal income tax by the Revenue Department if they ever joined the digital wallet project, saying no database pertaining to the project will be accessible to the tax agency.
According to the deputy finance minister, an estimated 45 million Thai nationals aged 16 years and over in all districts throughout the country will eventually join the digital wallet project to be run with a corresponding 450 billion baht total in government funding.
Of that total of people, about 27 millions have so far registered themselves via Stateway App as eligible recipients to the populist handout project whilst others were believed to follow suit until the deadline day set for Sep. 15, Julapun said.
However, Julapun said Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has instructed the relevant authorities to see to it that the handout project be effective by the upcoming November.
Srettha has earlier said the delayed project would eventually get started by October, which marks the start of the fourth quarter of the year.
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Top and Front Page: Representative images of digital wallet project. Credit: Thai Rath
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