The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) on December 1 reiterated a call on owners of left-hand drive vehicles who have yet to pay any applicable import taxes or related fees due to do so before December 31, in order to benefit from tax breaks currently on offer.
The GDCE had said in an October 12 letter that owners of vehicles with a model year before 2021 that were brought into Cambodia without paying import duties or other charges can reduce any levy obligations by at least 10 per cent if they pay them before the end of this year.
It also said on September 9 that it would also waive related fines and other penalties until June 30, 2022.
Owners of most right-hand drive vehicles, however, must still convert them to left-hand drive by June 30, in accordance with Cambodian road traffic law, or risk having them seized, dismantled or destroyed.
The GDCE said in a statement on December 1 that these tax breaks would remain in effect until June 30 for right-hand drive vehicles, to allow time for the required conversion, but warned that it could take “strict” action come next July.
GDCE information officer Si Nath told The Post on December 2 that vehicle owners could get an estimate of the amount of levies owed on the department’s website, and pay at any provincial customs and excise branch.
“Once logged in to the site, they can choose the make and model, and it’ll provide them a quote so that they can gather the funds needed,” he said.
Without providing concrete figures, Nath affirmed that “a large number” of owners of left-hand drive and recently-converted vehicles had paid their dues at customs and excise branches across the country.
And speaking at a virtual press conference on the progress of collecting these outstanding charges on October 27, GDCE director-general Kun Nhem said owners of 542 such vehicles – 190 of which are right-hand drive – had volunteered to pay their obligations, between “the commencement of tax collection” and October 26.
Nhem stressed that the latest tax breaks and other preferential policies set by the Ministry of Economy and Finance – the GDCE’s parent ministry – are geared “to alleviate the burden on car owners”.
