Tax Division
Background and cases under the Jurisdiction of The Tax Division of the Supreme Court
In 1996, the Tax Division with other 4 specialized divisions, were established in the Supreme Court in accordance with Ministerial Regulations (1996) issued under the Act to Use the Law for the Organization of the Court of Justice, B.E. 2477, while the Tax Division had the authority to consider and adjudicate tax cases appealed from the Tax Court in accordance with the law on the Establishment of and Procedure for Tax Court. Additionally, there was an Order of the Supreme Court No. 98/2016 regarding the Organization of the Specialized Division of the Supreme Court by having the specialized divisions, including the Tax Division, arranged a case meeting on all matters and had all judges in the division attending case meeting during the first period of the management of tax cases which were still centralized in the Supreme Court. However, in 2006 the President of the Supreme Court issued regulations for the management of tax cases in the Supreme Court in order to adjudicate tax cases expediently and effectively by setting guidelines for managing case files in the Tax Division. Since then, the Tax Division has been formally established for case management in the Supreme Court.
Jurisdiction
The Tax Division of the Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction over the following matters:
- Cases of appeals against any decision of any competent official or the Committee under taxation law;
- Dispute cases relating to rights of claims of the State over tax costs;
- Dispute cases relating to application for tax refunds;
- Dispute cases relating to rights or duties under obligations made for the purpose of tax collection;
- Cases prescribed by law to be under the jurisdiction of the tax courts.
THE ACT ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AND PROCEDURE FOR TAX COURT B.E. 2528
The newly amended section 24 and 26 states that the appeal against any judgments or orders of the Central Tax Court shall be submitted to the Specialized Court of Appeal. The appeal in the Supreme court for any judgments or orders of the Specialized Court of Appeal shall apply the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code mutatis mutandis. Therefore, any appeal against judgments or orders of the Specialized Court of Appeal (namely “Deka”) can be made with permission from the Supreme Court. Types of tax cases and disputes that are mostly adjudicated by the Tax Division of the Supreme Court
- Taxes related to the Revenue Department, such as disputes regarding personal income taxes, disputes regarding corporate income tax, disputes regarding value added taxes, disputes regarding specific business taxes and disputes regarding stamp duty.
- Taxes related to the Customs Department, such as disputes regarding customs tariffs on imports and disputes over false declarations.
- Taxes related to the Excise Department, such as disputes regarding excise tax rates, disputes regarding the collection of excise taxes on goods or services (gasoline, tobacco, beverages, etc.), disputes regarding the tax base for goods or services.
- Taxes related to Land and building, such as disputes regarding whether property is taxable or exempt, and disputes regarding annual cost appraisal of property.