PM orders review of welfare card removals over children's tax claims

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered the Finance Ministry to immediately review a measure that removes state welfare card holders from the programme if their names have been used by their working children to claim tax deductions.

Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said today that he has instructed the State Welfare Card Committee to review the measure, which has come under fierce criticism from opposition parties and the public for being unfair to poor card holders who receive no support from their children, despite having their names used to claim tax deductions.

He emphasised that the State Welfare Card programme was designed to help low-income people who have no other entitlements, noting that many beneficiaries live alone and receive no financial assistance from their children.

About 13.2 million people are registered under the State Welfare Card programme, with each recipient receiving a monthly allowance of 300 baht.

Under the recently launched 60:40 co-payment "Thai Chuay Thai Plus" scheme, each of the 30 million beneficiaries receives 1,000 baht a month for four months.

State welfare card holders receive an additional 700 baht a month during the same four-month period.

Ekniti pointed out that not all state welfare card holders are genuinely poor and that the government needs to screen out those who do not qualify. He added that some applicants for the Thai Chuay Thai Plus scheme had already been rejected under the screening process.

However, he acknowledged that it was unfair for some welfare card holders to be removed from the programme simply because their names had been used by their children to claim tax deductions.

As a result, some individuals have been excluded from both the State Welfare Card programme and the Thai Chuay Thai Plus scheme.

As a temporary remedy, Ekniti said the Interior Ministry has been asked to verify the affected cases so that eligible individuals can at least receive benefits under the Thai Chuay Thai Plus scheme in August and September.