[PHNOM PENH POST]
Cambodia's tax revenue rose by 12 per cent to US$575 million
year-on-year in 2011, according to data from the Ministry of Economy and
Finance (MEF).
The rise was due partly to increased collections
of profit taxes, excise taxes and duties totalling $13 million, says MEF
Secretary of State Hang Chuon Naron.
He said other increased taxations contributed as well, with property tax collections alone totalling $12 million last year.
“We are trying to increase tax collections in order to increase revenues and the national budget,” he said.
Son
Chhay, a national assembly member of the Sam Rainsy Party, said that
Cambodia loses millions each year on negligent tax and excise revenue
collection.
“We have lost between 25 to 35 per cent of tax
revenue each year at the hands of customs officers because they don’t
look at the exact number of products. They just try to collect a target
set by the Ministry of Economy and Finance,” he said.
Tax
revenues increase from 10.7 per cent of the overall GDP in 2010 to 11
per cent of the GDP last year, with non-tax revenues slightly decreasing
from 2.3 per cent of the GDP in 2010 to two per cent of the GDP in
2011.
With the new taxes being set up and pursued more
thoroughly, Son Chhay said Cambodia could potentially lose $1 billion
due to hasty methods and innacurate reports.
He also said that
powerful officials often pay less in taxes than others, and encouraged
them to be more transparent with the taxes they pay.
He added
that the telecom sector had also costed the Kingdom in potential tax
revenues because the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications did not
have a clear billing system and often just relied on a companies’ own
reports.
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