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Cambodia: Tax dept rejects request for delay in returns
The General Department of Taxation (GDT) has rejected a request to extend the deadline for the submission of annual tax on income (TOI). However, it will allow the temporary suspension of in-person meetings for tax registration and audits following a new coronavirus outbreak.
In a letter signed by Kong Vibol, director-general of the taxation department, he stated that according to the law on taxation, annual income tax must be filed within three months after the end of each tax year, which means that all enterprises are required to prepare their accounting records in time to be submitted by the end of March annually.
Last week, nine international business chambers (IBCs) called on the GDT to delay the deadline. Signatories of a joint letter,including chambers from the US (AmCham), UK, Australia, Europe, India, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines, requested that the GDT extend its deadline past March 31, in response to the latest COVID-19 outbreak.
The signatories also stressed the necessity for the suspension of in-person meetings for new taxpayers who wish to register for tax and those with ongoing audits.
The latter request was granted until the so-called Feb 20 community incident is fully resolved. That incident refers to the escape from quarantine of four Chinese nationals staying at the Sokha Hotel in Phnom Penh and accused of spreading the pandemic.
The GDT responded that to ease the burden of taxpayers in filing returns, it had put in tremendous efforts in developing online systems including e-filing.
In the case that companies are facing difficulties in using the online tax system, manual tax return forms can be filled in, scanned and uploaded to the GDT’s e-uploader system without the requirement to hand in tax returns in person, said the GDT.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the GDT believes that the use of online systems plays a critical role in reducing the risks associated with Coronavirus. It means taxpayers are not physically required to file tax returns at the tax administration office. They can be prepared from a company or home address.
“Having considered the above, it is clear that taxpayers are not required to physically communicate with tax officers for the purpose of submitting tax returns and the GDT is certain that the deadline for annual tax on income should not be extended,” Vibol said.
“To ensure sustainable revenue collection for various state expenditures and to avoid the potential risk of COVID-19 transmission during the pandemic, the GDT would like to encourage members of the international chambers of commerce to fulfill their tax obligations through TOI [tax-on-income] e-filing instead of filing manual tax returns with tax officers before the deadline of March 31, 2021,” he added.
“The GDT would like also like to seek your understanding for not extending the deadline for annual tax on income because many enterprises have already prepared their annual tax on income.”
The GDT added that to ensure a smooth tax audit, one of its core functions, a video conference, will be set up if requested by taxpayers or relevant departments or tax branches involved.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50825836/tax-dept-rejects-request-for-delay-in-returns/