The Royal Thai Customs Department collects import and export duties as well as other taxes on behalf of Thailand’s government. These currently amount to over $7 billion a year.
Payment of duties and taxes by importers was a complex, time consuming and predominantly manual process that typically took up to a full day.
The Royal Thai Customs wanted to improve the efficiency of its entire tax-collection process, launching an e-customs initiative to streamline processes for importers and exporters while receiving the money it was due more quickly.
Citi worked with the Royal Thai Customs to create CustomsConnect, an electronic duty and tax payment service based on Citi’s web-enabled financial services payment gateway, CitiConnectSM.
CustomsConnect allows importers and exporters to make convenient and secure payments on a 24/7 basis via the Internet, resulting in greater efficiency and cost savings for their businesses. Additional system features allow them to e-mail payment status alerts and invoice details as well as process vital documentation.
CustomsConnect also offers the Royal Thai Customs the flexibility to adjust the payment approval criteria and authority level of the authorized payment approvers.
The Royal Thai Customs can now collect revenue faster and at a lower cost than before. It has advanced its e-customs initiative, facilitated trade and promoted the e-government policy of the Thai government.
Ultimately, the solution extends the ability of import and export organizations to do business electronically with the Thai government.