The General Department of Taxation (GDT) collected over $2 billion in tax revenue last year, up 13.37 per cent from the same period in 2017, according to a statement released by the department on Tuesday.

At the December 2018 tax collection revenue meeting, General Department of Taxation director-general Kong Vibol indicated that the department collected more than $2.19 billion from various streams of tax revenue, exceeding its target by over $274 million.

The report shows that in December alone, the GDT collected more than $142 million, an increase of $31 million compared to December 2017.

An average of 20%

According to the statement, tax collection revenues have increased an average of 20 per cent annually over the last five years, with $1.06 billion collected in 2014, more than $1.3 billion in 2015, $1.5 billion in 2016 and $1.97 billion in 2017.

Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth, who attended the meeting, voiced his support for the GDT’s mission of an optimal yield this year through efficient implementation of tax revenue collection.

Pornmoniroth said the GDT must continue to modernise fiscal administration by studying information technology strategic plans to establish an integrated data centre for GDT.

He added that they must also update and perform additional studies on regulations which best support tax revenue collection management and continue to update all real estate data in the capital and regions subject to tax collection.