By Kay Kimsong
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Finance Minister Keat Chhon has sharply criticized a new report by the Economic Institute of Cambodia which he believes has exaggerated the amount of money lost to the government in uncollected tax revenue, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said Tuesday.
The EIC report, based on a survey of 1200 businesses, states that the government was only able to collect 25 percent of potential tax revenue last year because of unofficial payments being made to government officials in order to avoid paying taxes.
The report, released in part last week and officially launched on Tuesday, estimates that the government may have lost $400 million in uncollected taxes in 2005.
"I think the finance minister does not agree with some parts of the EIC report," Cheam Yeap said, adding that Keat Chhon's letter was sent on Monday.
"The most unhappy part was when the report said the Finance Ministry collected only 25 percent of tax," he said.
Cheam Yeap read out Keat Chhon's letter of disapproval at the EIC's launch of its report on Tuesday. Keat Chhon could not be reached for comment.
EIC Director Sok Hach said that before the report was released, he met with a senior tax department official at the Finance Ministry to discuss the figures in his report and that the official agreed with the analysis.
"We went through the number back and forth three times. We have sent our methodologies to the Tax Department," he said.
The EIC report does note that the government has made progress in recent years to increase the amount of tax it collects.
National Audit Authority Chairman Ut Chhorn said that while he could not confirm or deny the EIC's findings, NAA audits have also discovered a lot of lost tax revenue.
He also said that many ministries have refused to give the NAA important documentation, citing confidentiality.
At the EIC's report launch, several prominent businessmen discussed the toll that corruption has taken on entrepreneurs.
"The experience with my company is that one document can take three months if I do not follow up and pay bribes," said Tan Monivann, vice president of the Mong Reththy Group.
"I did not want to pay bribes to government officials, but if I don't, my project won't move forward," he said.
The EIC report, based on a survey of 1200 businesses, states that the government was only able to collect 25 percent of potential tax revenue last year because of unofficial payments being made to government officials in order to avoid paying taxes.
The report, released in part last week and officially launched on Tuesday, estimates that the government may have lost $400 million in uncollected taxes in 2005.
"I think the finance minister does not agree with some parts of the EIC report," Cheam Yeap said, adding that Keat Chhon's letter was sent on Monday.
"The most unhappy part was when the report said the Finance Ministry collected only 25 percent of tax," he said.
Cheam Yeap read out Keat Chhon's letter of disapproval at the EIC's launch of its report on Tuesday. Keat Chhon could not be reached for comment.
EIC Director Sok Hach said that before the report was released, he met with a senior tax department official at the Finance Ministry to discuss the figures in his report and that the official agreed with the analysis.
"We went through the number back and forth three times. We have sent our methodologies to the Tax Department," he said.
The EIC report does note that the government has made progress in recent years to increase the amount of tax it collects.
National Audit Authority Chairman Ut Chhorn said that while he could not confirm or deny the EIC's findings, NAA audits have also discovered a lot of lost tax revenue.
He also said that many ministries have refused to give the NAA important documentation, citing confidentiality.
At the EIC's report launch, several prominent businessmen discussed the toll that corruption has taken on entrepreneurs.
"The experience with my company is that one document can take three months if I do not follow up and pay bribes," said Tan Monivann, vice president of the Mong Reththy Group.
"I did not want to pay bribes to government officials, but if I don't, my project won't move forward," he said.
1 comment:
If Keat chhon is qualified enough to be a Minister of Finance, any monkey can also do that job. He was one of Khmer rouge animal.
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