The minister of economy and finance has asked his counterpart at the Ministry of Interior to remind his police officers to pay customs taxes on their vehicles with official licence plates or have them confiscated, according to an official statement released by the minister on Thursday.

The statement, signed by Minister of Finance Aun Porn Moniroth, said the officials had a month to pay their back taxes.

“Please . . . inform the owners of national police plates who haven’t paid the tax to fulfil their obligation and comply with the regulations,” the statement read.

Earlier this year the police asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance to stop confiscating their vehicles that were not registered with the ministry’s tax department.

The request came after a series of embarrassing confiscations in 2015 that the police blamed on the slow processing of paperwork.

Although the Finance Ministry complied, it continued to record that information, compiling a list of vehicles and plate numbers owned by officials who haven’t paid their taxes.

“We’ve lowered the fine fee and the tax fee for old vehicles,” the statement noted, warning that leniency would last only until the end of September.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Por Phak said he had not received the letter. He said the ministry had been working on the issue and added that he did not know of many vehicle owners yet to pay their taxes.