Tax Revenues Up 27% In 2019

PHNOM PENH, July 26 (Xinhua) — Cambodia collected 3 billion U.S. dollars from all sources of taxes in the first half of 2019, up 27 percent compared with the same period last year, according to local media on Friday.

The Southeast Asian country has two institutions responsible for collecting taxes.

The General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) collects taxes on goods entering and leaving the country, and the General Department of Taxation (GDT) focuses on interior taxes such as income tax, salary tax, value added tax, and property tax.

According to the Khmer Times, the GDCE earned 1.475 billion U.S. dollars in customs and excise revenue during the January-June period this year, up 25.5 percent compared with last year.

“We achieved about 65 percent of the 2019 target,” GDCE Director-General Kun Nhim said. “More than 52 percent of the revenue was collected from tax on automobiles and machinery, 17.1 percent from tax on petroleum, and 29.5 percent from tax on construction materials and general goods.”

For the GDT, its Director General Kong Vibol said in a separate statement that the GDT collected 1.526 billion dollars in tax revenue during the first six months of this year, up 29 percent compared to the same period last year.

He said the GDT attained 66.7 percent of a self-imposed target in 2019.