The International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the end of the 2010 Article IV Consultation with Cambodia, has agreed that enhancing revenue collection and administration procedures were essential to ensure internal fiscal sustainability, while also providing room for the country to meet its medium-term development objectives.
It was reported that, following a significant easing in 2009, it is probable that Cambodia’s 2010 budget target will be bettered and a gradual fiscal consolidation is on track. The rebound in tax revenue is broadening, with a rise in both direct and indirect cumulative tax revenue. In particular, profit tax collection has gained momentum, supported by the ongoing economic recovery. Continued efforts to strengthen revenue administration, and reduced incentives for smuggling due to diminishing regional disparities in gasoline and diesel prices, have also helped contain tax evasion.
The Cambodian government is committed to further improving revenue administration. It concurred with the IMF that gains in tax collection offer the best hope for Cambodia to meet the dual objective of securing fiscal sustainability and mobilizing resources for its large development needs. Specifically, there was agreement that the scope to improve the productivity of the tax system is significant.
The IMF estimated that, based on its experience in similar countries, Cambodia’s tax revenue to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is about 5%-7% below its potential. Since the mid-1990s, the tax revenue to GDP ratio has doubled, but at 12%, it is still the second lowest among Asian low-income countries (LICs) that average 17%. According to the IMF, bringing the productivity of the value-added tax alone to a level comparable with other Asian low-income countries would yield an additional 1.5% of GDP.
The IMF, therefore, supported the government’s target of improving the tax revenue to GDP ratio through better administration by 0.5% per year, which means that about one-third to one-half of the revenue enhancing potential would be realized over the medium-term.
There was also agreement that much will depend on following through with detailed action plans of the revenue collecting agencies, including: the enhancement of taxpayer compliance through auditing; information sharing among revenue-collecting and law-enforcement agencies; taxpayer education; and improved governance within the agencies (notably through better protection of enforcement officers and disclosure requirements under the recently adopted anti-corruption law).
The IMF recommended that a comprehensive strategy to enable a more aggressive collection of tax arrears, which rose 20% in the year ending July 2010, be put in place.
It was suggested that reducing the scope for evasion will also critically enhance the effectiveness of tax policy changes that are currently considered with a view to raise revenue. For example, the IMF estimated that replacing the reference price for taxes on petroleum imports to the current transactions price level would yield about 1% of GDP, and higher “sin” taxes on alcohol and tobacco could generate an additional 0.2% of GDP.
However, it was pointed out that these calculations assume that the resulting increase in domestic retail prices over those in neighbouring countries does not erode the tax base. This requires that greater incentives for smuggling are effectively curbed by the envisaged improvements to customs control. It was agreed that better information sharing and transfer of know-how in the fight against tax evasion from the General Customs and Excise Department to the General Tax Department will also be needed in light of trade liberalization commitments and the growing reliance on domestic taxes relative to trade taxes.
Source: http://www.tax-news.com/cyprus/cyprus_review_2010.asp
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Ministry accused of graft
The Phnom Penh Post
WEDNESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2010 20:06
MOM KUNTHEAR
A woman has filed a complaint to the Anticorruption Unit accusing Interior Ministry officials in Phnom Penh of extorting money from her after wrongfully arresting and detaining her son.
Teng Sokchea, 46, said yesterday that she filed a complaint to the ACU on Monday after her 22-year-old son and three of his friends had been arrested in Russey Keo district on Sunday, and accused of buying a motorbike with fake licence plates.
She said the four suspects were detained in a cell at the Ministry of Interior overnight, and were only released the following morning when family members arrived to pay fees of up to US$400 demanded by officials.
“They accused my son and his friends of buying a motorbike with fake number plates and they tried to force my son to admit the crime they accused him of,” she said.
“I gave $250 to the officer for the release of my son. At first I told them that I have only $200, but they asked me for $50 more,” she said, adding that she had had to borrow the extra $50.
She said her son had bought the motorbike in question from his uncle, and denied that it had fake number plates.
“I still wonder why the police arrested and detained my son that night,” she said. “He is a good person and he did not do anything wrong from the law.”
But Horm Kunthy, director of the Investigations Bureau at the Interior Ministry’s Criminal Police Department, said yesterday that the arrests were justified.
“We got information from the local police [that they] suspected that [the four accused] bought a motorbike from a thief to sell in the province, and then we went to arrest them in order to question them,” he said.
He said he had accepted money from Teng Sokchea in exchange for her son’s release, but claimed that Teng Sokchea had offered the money freely.
“Actually she agreed to give me $250 [in exchange] for taking her son back home,” he said, adding that officials had only agreed to accept the money and release Teng Sokchea’s son because they “felt pity for her”.
He said he was not concerned about the possibility of an ACU investigation.
“I don’t care or worry about her complaint to the ACU because it is her right to do that and I will prepare myself to appear to answer all the questions about her case if the ACU officers invite me for questioning,” he said, adding that he was not worried “because I am not wrong”.
ACU head Om Yentieng, and spokesman Keo Remy could not be reached for comment yesterday.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010121545413/National-news/ministry-accused-of-graft.html
WEDNESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2010 20:06
MOM KUNTHEAR
A woman has filed a complaint to the Anticorruption Unit accusing Interior Ministry officials in Phnom Penh of extorting money from her after wrongfully arresting and detaining her son.
Teng Sokchea, 46, said yesterday that she filed a complaint to the ACU on Monday after her 22-year-old son and three of his friends had been arrested in Russey Keo district on Sunday, and accused of buying a motorbike with fake licence plates.
She said the four suspects were detained in a cell at the Ministry of Interior overnight, and were only released the following morning when family members arrived to pay fees of up to US$400 demanded by officials.
“They accused my son and his friends of buying a motorbike with fake number plates and they tried to force my son to admit the crime they accused him of,” she said.
“I gave $250 to the officer for the release of my son. At first I told them that I have only $200, but they asked me for $50 more,” she said, adding that she had had to borrow the extra $50.
She said her son had bought the motorbike in question from his uncle, and denied that it had fake number plates.
“I still wonder why the police arrested and detained my son that night,” she said. “He is a good person and he did not do anything wrong from the law.”
But Horm Kunthy, director of the Investigations Bureau at the Interior Ministry’s Criminal Police Department, said yesterday that the arrests were justified.
“We got information from the local police [that they] suspected that [the four accused] bought a motorbike from a thief to sell in the province, and then we went to arrest them in order to question them,” he said.
He said he had accepted money from Teng Sokchea in exchange for her son’s release, but claimed that Teng Sokchea had offered the money freely.
“Actually she agreed to give me $250 [in exchange] for taking her son back home,” he said, adding that officials had only agreed to accept the money and release Teng Sokchea’s son because they “felt pity for her”.
He said he was not concerned about the possibility of an ACU investigation.
“I don’t care or worry about her complaint to the ACU because it is her right to do that and I will prepare myself to appear to answer all the questions about her case if the ACU officers invite me for questioning,” he said, adding that he was not worried “because I am not wrong”.
ACU head Om Yentieng, and spokesman Keo Remy could not be reached for comment yesterday.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010121545413/National-news/ministry-accused-of-graft.html
Friday, December 3, 2010
Taxing problems remain for Kingdom’s government
Friday, 03 December 2010 15:02
The Phnom Penh Post
Steve Finch
THE latest budget disclosure this week by the government showed a 13.8 percent rise in tax revenues in the first three quarters of the year, compared to 2009, another sign the Kingdom is tackling one of its greatest budgeting headaches.
Generating some 3,462.35 billion riels, or US$834.3 million, in the first nine months of the year again represented the highest-ever tax revenue collection by the government, a promising sign given that Cambodia must significantly raise domestic revenues to offset donations by the international community.
Nevertheless, major tax collection problems exist that must be addressed, not least because the collection of taxes remains at the epicentre of Cambodia’s complex corruption challenges.
The new Anticorruption Unit is investigating road tax officials as one of its first cases, amid allegations motorists are being overcharged in Phnom Penh. But this case is unlikely to touch on the much wider problem associated with teams of policemen that levy informal fees on motorists.
Ask foreign investors about the negatives associated with doing business in Cambodia and usually top of the list are the charges levied as an informal tax within the system.
Cambodia’s taxation problems therefore represent under-enforcement of official taxes combined with over-zealous extraction of informal fees. In terms of enforcement, the country continues to enjoy successes and failures.
Law firm DFDL Mekong noted in its October update that authorities have stepped up tax enforcement in the case of international schools which are subject to the same taxes as private businesses.
However, a new property tax that was supposed to be set up this week has thus far failed to get off the ground amid reports the authorities are unprepared and questions over exactly how the Ministry of
Finance subcommittee responsible for evaluations is supposed to grade properties when there are few transactions to help define values.
Cambodia needs to make sure that taxation is fair otherwise enforcement becomes even more difficult.
Aside from these problems are the classic cases of disappearing taxes and a pervasive lack of transparency. The budget declaration for the first nine months by the Ministry of Economy and Finance does not list any revenues generated from airport tax. Yet anyone that has travelled through Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports knows foreign adults are charged a hefty $25 to leave the Kingdom, while Cambodian adults pay $18.
Ministry of Tourism figures showed some 835,000 people arrived by air in the first eight months of this year.
If we assume they all left by air and for arguments sake 75 percent were over 12 years old, then in this category alone the government would have generated some $18.37 million, or roughly 2.5 percent of the total tax revenue that appeared on the budget balance sheet for the same period. Where is this money?
If the government is really intent on accounting for taxation revenue, which by its actions it seems to be, then accounting for these blatant omissions must surely become a priority.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010120345140/Business/taxing-problems-remain-for-kingdoms-government.html
The Phnom Penh Post
Steve Finch
THE latest budget disclosure this week by the government showed a 13.8 percent rise in tax revenues in the first three quarters of the year, compared to 2009, another sign the Kingdom is tackling one of its greatest budgeting headaches.
Generating some 3,462.35 billion riels, or US$834.3 million, in the first nine months of the year again represented the highest-ever tax revenue collection by the government, a promising sign given that Cambodia must significantly raise domestic revenues to offset donations by the international community.
Nevertheless, major tax collection problems exist that must be addressed, not least because the collection of taxes remains at the epicentre of Cambodia’s complex corruption challenges.
The new Anticorruption Unit is investigating road tax officials as one of its first cases, amid allegations motorists are being overcharged in Phnom Penh. But this case is unlikely to touch on the much wider problem associated with teams of policemen that levy informal fees on motorists.
Ask foreign investors about the negatives associated with doing business in Cambodia and usually top of the list are the charges levied as an informal tax within the system.
Cambodia’s taxation problems therefore represent under-enforcement of official taxes combined with over-zealous extraction of informal fees. In terms of enforcement, the country continues to enjoy successes and failures.
Law firm DFDL Mekong noted in its October update that authorities have stepped up tax enforcement in the case of international schools which are subject to the same taxes as private businesses.
However, a new property tax that was supposed to be set up this week has thus far failed to get off the ground amid reports the authorities are unprepared and questions over exactly how the Ministry of
Finance subcommittee responsible for evaluations is supposed to grade properties when there are few transactions to help define values.
Cambodia needs to make sure that taxation is fair otherwise enforcement becomes even more difficult.
Aside from these problems are the classic cases of disappearing taxes and a pervasive lack of transparency. The budget declaration for the first nine months by the Ministry of Economy and Finance does not list any revenues generated from airport tax. Yet anyone that has travelled through Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports knows foreign adults are charged a hefty $25 to leave the Kingdom, while Cambodian adults pay $18.
Ministry of Tourism figures showed some 835,000 people arrived by air in the first eight months of this year.
If we assume they all left by air and for arguments sake 75 percent were over 12 years old, then in this category alone the government would have generated some $18.37 million, or roughly 2.5 percent of the total tax revenue that appeared on the budget balance sheet for the same period. Where is this money?
If the government is really intent on accounting for taxation revenue, which by its actions it seems to be, then accounting for these blatant omissions must surely become a priority.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010120345140/Business/taxing-problems-remain-for-kingdoms-government.html
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