Vehicles travel along Preah Monivong Boulevard in Phnom Penh last year. Hong Menea
The General Department of Taxation (GDT) announced on May 28 that the government will collect annual road tax payments from June 1 until November 30.
The GDT said in a letter that owners of standard-class vehicles must submit tax returns or payment receipts and pay the amount due to their corresponding provincial or district tax branch, or at any authorised bank.
Embassies or consulates, international organisations, or governmental technical cooperation agencies are to apply at the GDT to obtain the tax forms for their vehicles, the letter said. Tax bills for these vehicles are footed by the state.
Government ministries, institutions, or other units must update their vehicle inventories with the Ministry of Economy and Finance's General Department of State Property and Non-Tax Revenue, the GDT said.
Fines will apply to those who have not paid by January 1, it warned.
As an apparent attempt to combat corruption and ensure transparency, GDT allows taxpayers to pay their due road taxes at seven banks – Canadia Bank, Acleda Bank, Vattanac Bank, Cambodian Public Bank, 8 Trust Royal Bank, Sathapana Bank and Cambodia Post Bank.
Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post on June 1 that this year's tax collection campaign is expected to run smoothly, with revenue increasing over 2020.
This, he said, is due to the GDT's expertise through years of road tax collection, along with improvements and continuous development of its methods.
While generally paling in comparison to the results of the tourism sector, which has been wracked by the tenacious Covid-19 pandemic, revenue drawn in through tax collection represents a sizeable portion of the increasing national income, he added.
Last year, the GDT collected 11.70052 trillion riel ($2.89 billion) in tax revenue, up by 423.20 billion riel or 3.73 per cent compared to 2019.
The health crisis drove down vehicle imports last year, with customs clearance revenue on vehicles falling by 40 per cent in 2020 from a year earlier, prompting the government to reduce vehicle import duties by 10-20 per cent from March 1 to revive the market and undergird the transport sector.
From 2016-2020, a total of 2,650,107 vehicles were registered – 318,345 light vehicles, 71,469 heavy vehicles and 2,260,293 motorcycles, according to data from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
