Cambodia Monthly Tax Filing Delayed

The Cambodian tax authority, the General Department of Taxation (“GDT”), has instituted an extension for all monthly tax returns normally due on 25 April.  These are the Prepayment of Profit Tax, the Value Added Tax, the Tax on Salary and the Withholding Tax. The extension comes amid city wide lock downs of Phnom Penh and Takhmao due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. All but essential services business venues are required to close for 2 weeks, allowing only work-from-home or online work to proceed. The population of Phnom Penh cannot travel freely throughout the city during this period, except for a limited number of reasons.

Understanding the difficulty of taxpayers, the GDT issued on 16 April 2021 a Notification on Deadline of Submission and Tax Payment for March 2021 Tax Returns. In the Notification, the GDT allows the deadline extended to:

• 27 April 2021 for companies that are not in lockdown areas or companies that are in lockdown areas but which are in essential sectors and are this not closed;
• 15 May 2021 for companies that are in lockdown areas and not in essential sectors

In fact, the actual filing of a tax return can happen online anyway with numbers being input in the GDT system. The GDT also provides the option for taxpayers to submit their tax returns in hard copies i.e. scanned version via e-uploader if the taxpayers are not able to use the e-filing system. Despite the fact that filing the returns is possible without leaving home, in theory, most taxpayers have difficulties preparing accounts and returns because their staff can only work from home during this period.

Cambodia has recently experienced a spike of Covid-19 which is named the 20-February-community event. The most affected areas are Phnom Penh and Takmao cities. Given this, the Royal Government of Cambodia has decided to put Phnom Penh and Takmao cities on lockdown for 14 days starting from 15 to 28 April 2021. This includes travel restrictions and business closures except for a number of sectors which are considered as essential such as: activities of government public institutions, armed forces and police, hospitals and pharmacies, food processing for basic necessities, restaurants, food markets and supermarkets, gas stations, banking and financial institutions and telecommunication companies.

If you need any assistance in this regard, please contact your regular contact at VDB Loi or Mr. Sivila Khim ([email protected])