IN AN effort to attract international filmmakers the Cabinet today (June 21) approved tax exemption for foreign actors shooting on location here for five years, Thansettakij newspaper said.
Ms. Ratchada Thanadirek, a deputy spokesperson at the Prime Minister’s Office, said this measure was approved by the Cabinet to attract investment in filmmaking in Thailand, draw the filming of more movies here and promote Thai soft power.
The country’s income from shooting foreign films here has been increasing continuously. During 2017 – 2021 the average was 3.5 billion baht a year with the total for just 2021 being 5.007 billion baht.
Thailand already has a measure in place to promote the shooting of foreign movies in the country with this being in the form of cash rebate of around 15-20 percent of the expenses incurred in Thailand but limited to a maximum of 75 million baht.
However there was a restriction imposed with foreign actors shooting on location here having to pay Thai personal income tax while also liable to be taxed in their home country.
As this could affect their decision to join movies being shot here the Thai government has today waived this tax for five years.
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Front Page: A graphic image of shooting movies by Thansettakij.
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