Thailand
Cambodia has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in SEA
Cambodia is making itself more attractive to foreign investors by having one of the lowest corporate tax rates in Southeast Asia.
Trading Economics, an online economic statistics platform, lists the Kingdom as having the third lowest corporate tax rate in the region after Brunei and Singapore.
Cambodia’s current corporate tax rate stands at 20 percent, which is the same as that of Thailand and Vietnam. Singapore has the lowest rate in the region at 17 percent, followed by Brunei at 18.5 percent.
The Philippines has the highest corporate tax rate in Southeast Asia at 30 percent, followed by Indonesia and Myanmar at 25 percent, and Malaysia and Laos at 24 percent.
Local and international experts said it is important for Cambodia to offer low or competitive corporate tax rates.
In an email, Anthony Galliano, CEO of Cambodia Investment Management (CIM), noted that Singapore benefited immensely as a low tax jurisdiction.
According to him, the city-state, which led the inflow in foreign direct investments (FDI) in Southeast Asia, continues to benefit as a low tax jurisdiction, with FDI jumping from $62 billion in 2017 to $77 billion in 2018, compared to Cambodia’s $3.1 billion for 2018.
Mr Galliano added that it would be ‘risky’ for the Kingdom to raise its corporate tax rate at this time.
“The worldwide average corporate tax rate has consistently decreased since 1980, declining in every region, so to raise the rate would be contrary to the global trend and places the Kingdom’s competitiveness at risk,” he said.
Echoing Mr Galliano, Jayant Menon, lead economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said competitive corporate tax rates are a “necessity” for Cambodia.
“As an economy in transition, a competitive corporate tax rate will be necessary in order to offset some of the higher costs of doing business here compared to some alternative sites,” he stressed.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50647262/cambodia-has-one-of-the-lowest-corporate-tax-rates-in-sea/