GDT tax collection falls in Q1
GDT tax collection falls in Q1
The General Department of Taxation (GDT) collected taxes totalling $1.18 billion during the January-March period this year, down 11.9 percent from $1.34 billion collected in the first quarter of 2023.
Cambodia has two institutions responsible for collecting taxes. One is the General Department of Taxation (GDT), which focuses on interior taxes such as income tax, salary tax, value-added tax and property tax, and the other is the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), which collects taxes on goods entering and leaving the country.
“The January-March tax income collection equals 28.5 percent of the budget target plan set in 2024,” read a report.
Tax incomes from financial and insurance activities, import-export activities, and manufacturing activities are the main tax incomes, it stated in the report.
GDT is taking steps to address the shortfall and outline potential measures to mitigate its impact. Its director-general Kong Vibol asked tax officials to increase work efficiency to reach the target.
“The GDT has reformed the tax system, including services to taxpayers and registration, audits, debt management and fast resolution of issues faced by taxpayers,” Vibol said recently.
This drop in tax income presents a challenge for the Cambodian government, which relies heavily on tax revenue to fund public services and infrastructure development.
Prime Minister Hun Manet has stated that the Cambodian government will not create any new tax, nor increase rates of existing taxes but maintain the current tax exemptions for some economic activities.
He has also lined up a wide range of tax incentives to the tourism sector, construction and land property sector, and agricultural sector to boost economic activities.
The GDT earned $3.61 billion as taxes in 2023, a 4.5 percent increase from $3.45 billion in 2022.
This $3.61 billion collected has ensured the department achieved 101 percent of its annual target, said the report.
