The Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance has made a decision to impose the single payment taxation system on commercial gambling venues with the new tax on gross gaming revenue.
As reported by The Khmer Times, the Cambodian Government adopted the revenue-based taxing regime on December 30th, 2022 – two years after the much-expected casino bill was finally passed in the country.
The piece of legislation called the Law on the Management of Integrated Resorts and Commercial Gambling has imposed a revenue-based tax of 7% on mass gaming, while VIP gambling became subject to a 4% tax. Apart from that, the bill outlined a number of other regulatory controls for the future. As explained by the country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Cambodian Government plans to gradually introduce the respective controls over the upcoming five years.
As part of the new tax regime, gambling venues across the country will also be required to comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards that are used to regulate how specific financial events and transactions have to be reported.
Secretary of State May Vann, who is also part of the Commercial Gambling Management Commission’s General Secretariat, has shared that the new legislative rules and requirements are expected to provide better monitoring, control and assessment of the country’s gaming sector.
New Measures to Prevent Circumvention of Tax Laws in the Casino and Gambling Sector of Cambodia
As explained by the Secretary of State, once they are fully implemented, the new measures would make sure that operators and tax officials are no longer able to hide cash to pay to the authority. The new controls and procedures are set to be used to decide which check-and-balance practices should be used by the Government to balance regulatory power among regulators, inspectors, casino operators, and other major stakeholders that are responsible for the implementation of the new regulatory tax regime.
Apart from that, the so-called check-and-balance practices apply to all parties that are being asked to evaluate or verify one another. At the same time, none of them is given the chance to exploit anything that belongs to the respective gambling business operations that are currently being reviewed. This basically means that casinos will be stripped of the chance to cheat their gamblers and vice versa, while at the same time casino customers will be given the opportunity to file complaints against the casinos in case they are able to provide enough relevant evidence to support their claims.
Owners of casinos in Cambodia may also be required to comply with another rule brought by the new regime of the Government. Reportedly, they might be asked to replace the word “casino” with “commercial gambling” on their signages by the end of the five-year grace expiration period. The competent authorities have decided that it would be better if casinos across the country are presented as entertainment centers rather than standard gambling hubs.
As previously reported by CasinoGamesPro, the Cambodian Government presented a series of new guidelines for gambling and casino operators in October 2022. The measures were part of the competent authorities’ crackdown on the illegal gambling industry that has lately been undermining the reputation of the country.
