The General Department of Taxation (GDT) confirmed on Monday that it will continue to work with the fiscal administration and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Cambodia to promote the tax sector to provide better services for taxpayers.

The commitment was made during a meeting between the joint working group of the GDT and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Cambodia on Monday, which discussed and found some issues troubling the private sector, the GDT said.

The GDT statement said after the Ministry of Economy and Finance formed the joint working group at the end of August, it was the first time that the GDT and the China Chamber of Commerce Cambodia representatives met for consultation on tax enforcement and facilitation.

GDT director-general Kong Vibol welcomed the meeting and reiterated his commitment to cooperate between the fiscal administration and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Cambodia to provide better service to taxpayers.

“This excellent cooperation reflects the full support and trust of the fiscal administration as well as the government for foreign investors in Cambodia,” he said.

Chinese Chamber of Commerce Cambodia co-chairman Jing Jun said the private sector currently faces some challenges in doing business in Cambodia, especially in terms of tax matters which require more explanation from a tax expert.

He thanked the GDT for always paying attention to the challenges of the private sector.

Key topics discussed in the meeting were tax redefinition, payroll tax implementation, incentives for large investment projects, the proposed double tax agreement (DTA) exemption and strengthening the effectiveness of tax audit.

Others included VAT exemption, implementation of VAT exemption, implementation of incentive mechanisms such as garments and the request for a fiscal compliance certificate.

The government collected $2.4 billion in revenue from taxation during the first 10 months of this year – up 28.31 per cent year-on-year from $1.873 billion, a GDT report said .

Over the last five years, the GDT had achieved a tax revenue growth of 20 per cent per annum. Of the figure, 2014 revenue collection was $1.06 billion. It was more than $1.3 billion in 2015 and $1.5 billion in 2016.

In 2017, tax revenue collection was over $1.97 billion and in 2018, the GDT collected $2.19 billion.

The GDT report said that in the first 10 months of this year, it collected $2.404 billion in tax revenue, up 28.31 per cent ($530.5 million) in comparison to the same period of 2018.

Revenue in the 10 months is equal to 105.06 per cent of the GDT’s 2019 revenue plan.