Reductions in the corporate income tax rate are often combined with efforts to widen the tax base by eliminating exemptions and increasing other tax rates, particularly the VAT. So, the 7-per-cent VAT rate has been extended for another year until the end of September 2015 - but it may not be able to continue long term. The VAT rate may need to be put back up to 10 per cent, or higher, mainly due to Thailand's deficit situation and the composition of tax collections.