Cambodia’s fiscal revenue in the first semester this year dropped, largely because of Covid, officials said.

Data from the General Department of Taxation (GDT) showed the body collected $1.516 billion in tax between January and June, a 10.6 percent decrease compared with the same period last year.

In June alone,  tax revenue was $168 million, a 16 percent decrease compared with June last year.

The customs income authorised by the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) also dropped – by 8.9 percent – to $1.160 billion.

Two institutions, under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, are responsible for tax collection. The GDCE garners taxes on imports and exports and the GDT focuses on interior taxes such as income tax, value-added tax and property tax.

GDT Director-General Kong Vibol said, “The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the February 20 incident negatively and strongly affected tax collection performance. The pandemic hit businesses hard. Some garment factories closed while others shut down temporarily. Tourism-related businesses have suffered from a lack of tourists.”

Lim Heng, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said he had high hopes the business and investment environment would recover when  more of the population was vaccinated, adding that once that process was over, it would help businesses return to normal and new investment would be drawn in.  An increase in business activity would in turn grow tax revenue.

Covid also caused large drops in revenue and profitability, said Cambodia Investment Management group CEO Anthony Galliano.

Tax incentives supporting industries affected by Covid did not contribute to national tax revenue, he added.

• Tags: fiscal revenue, GDT