Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday said that Cambodia’s internal revenue from customs and taxation increased noticeably in first five months of 2019, reaching almost 60% of the year’s target.
Speaking to graduating students at the Royal University of Phnom Penh Monday morning, the PM said that revenues on taxes collected from January to May accounted for 58% of 2019’s year-end target. Customs revenue, meanwhile, was at 54% of the year-end goal in the first five months.
“The culture of paying tax among our people is getting better and better,” he said.
He did not provide any amounts regarding tax collection thus far this year. However, according to Cambodia’s national budget for 2019, the target for customs and taxation collection is set at $4.5 billion.
The prime minister’s statements come on the heels of a move by the Ministry of Economy and Finance late last month to cancel a 1% withholding tax. This was announced during Hun Sen’s visit to Japan for an investment seminar. At the event, he trumpeted the Kingdom as a friendly nation for investments of all kinds.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance issued a release on May, 29 on the cancellation of the 1% minimum tax which was announced by the Prime Minister Hun Sen in Cambodia’s investment environment seminar held in Japan.
Withholding taxes are usually used as a means to combat tax evasion. Removing the tax aims to attract more investors to the country.
Previously, commentators have championed the importance of taxation and customs revenue, saying it is a means to decrease the Kingdom’s dependence on foreign nations.
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