In the first half of this year, the General Department of Taxation (GDT) of Cambodia has collected over $2.072 billion in tax, which is about 58 per cent of the projected tax revenue for 2023 as per the financial management law.

The figure was revealed by Kong Vibol, director-general of the GDT, during the July 13 meeting to review the six-month tax collection performance. In his address, he reported that the GDT had collected tax revenue of $2.072 billion in the first six months of the year, or approximately 58.02% of the target outlined in the 2023 financial management law.

Additionally, in June, the GDT collected $245.68 million, accounting for roughly 6.88 per cent of the target.

"Considering the tax revenue situation for the first half of this year, we expect to implement tax revenue management for 2023 that could result in a total collection of about $3.571 billion," GDT added.

GDT press release stated that for 2023, Cambodia's economy (GDP) is projected to achieve a growth rate of around 5.6 per cent. The tax revenue collection is expected to reach around 105 per cent of the target by the end of the year.

However, it was also pointed out that revenue from some key sectors had fallen in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2022.

The beverage manufacturing or production sector saw a decrease of 12.89 per cent, while the real estate sector was down by 3.88 per cent.

Stamp duty on real estate ownership transfers also saw a drop of approximately 26.83 per cent.

Tax collection in the first six months of 2023 marked a 19.03 per cent decrease compared to the same period in 2022. Meanwhile, tax revenue collected from e-commerce transactions in June amounted to $6.8 million. Throughout the first six months of the year, e-commerce transaction tax collection amounted to about $39.31 million.