The Ministry of Finance is overhauling state welfare programs and pushing for a Negative Income Tax within two years.

The Ministry of Finance is preparing to revamp the entire state welfare system, shifting from universal assistance to targeted support. They plan to implement a negative income tax within two years and connect data from 40 agencies to prevent duplicate benefits.

6 Jun 2569 Mr. Lawan Saengsanit, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance revealed that The Ministry of Finance is preparing to reorganize the entire public welfare system, aiming to implement a negative income tax (NIT) within two years. To address the issue of overlapping welfare benefits and to utilize the budget most efficiently, based on the principles of income above the tax threshold and income below the threshold for welfare eligibility.

This new screening process for welfare cards, which involves verifying data linked to the tax database for children to examine parental care, is considered the starting point for organizing data systems towards a more complete NIT (Network Information Technology) system in the future.

For the NIT system, it's a transition from blanket financial aid, or equal payments for everyone, such as the tiered elderly allowance of 600-1,000 baht, to targeted assistance based on each individual's profile of hardship.

This new system will allow the government to gain a detailed understanding of every Thai citizen through a large database, enabling them to analyze individual welfare needs. For example, the most vulnerable groups may continue to rely primarily on tools like the state welfare card, while those with specific needs, such as people with disabilities, chronically ill patients, or those caring for elderly parents and children, will receive assistance packages designed to match their actual expenses.

Furthermore, the government aims to develop the NIT system into a real-time system to provide immediate assistance to citizens. For example, if someone loses their job in August, the system should be able to immediately notify them and initiate the assistance process, without having to wait until the annual tax filing period in March of the following year.

"The state welfare card will be one tool in the NIT system for the poorest groups. Other groups will receive different assistance packages according to their needs, such as medical expenses or group-specific subsidies. If we can differentiate between those who are already receiving assistance from their families and those who are not truly in need, the government can save budget and better allocate funds to care for the most vulnerable groups."

Mr. Laworn revealed that the Ministry of Finance has currently expanded the data linkage from the original 20 sources to 40 sources for screening purposes. This will provide a clearer picture of what assistance an individual is receiving from the government, such as whether they are a retired civil servant eligible for medical expenses or an elderly person receiving disability benefits.

Regarding technological readiness, the Ministry of Finance confirms that the current system can efficiently handle tax filing and screening for 20-30 million people. In the future, filing taxes and receiving welfare benefits may be as simple as a single click through an application to verify data provided by the government (Data Cleansing).

"Using this system will allow the government to know the identity of every Thai citizen in detail through interconnected databases. This will provide information on their true status, including whether they are employed, their income, the number of parents or children they care for, and whether they have chronic illnesses or disabilities. This will enable the government to provide assistance that truly meets the needs of each individual."

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