2 Ministries Work Together to Facilitate Ownership Transfer Procedure for Registration Tax Property Exemption

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction have agreed to simplify the procedure for the transfer of property ownership for industries that are exempt from registration tax.

His Excellency Say Sam Al, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, requested the Ministry to directly review and approve the application for transfer of ownership of real estate with government tax concessions and registration tax exemption without prior confirmation from the General Department of Taxation to solve many related issues and also received the approval of His Excellency Dr. Aun Pornmoniroth, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance. This is according to information released by the General Department of Taxation of Cambodia.

The GDT confirmed that the two ministries issued a joint statement in early January announcing the establishment of a joint working group to be responsible for organizing relevant standard operating procedures and coordinating and facilitating related industrial property transfer procedures.

His Excellency Dr. Ken Sambath, deputy director of the General Department of Taxation, who is the Co-Chairman of the Working Group, pointed out that according to the existing regulations, the Cadastral Office under the Ministry of Land Management, Planning, and Construction will require the property owner to have a "certificate" who paid the stamp duty before approving the transfer and issuing a new real estate certificate. This has led to delays in many programs for real estate transfers that will be exempt from registration tax.

H.E. Ken Sambath stated that the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction requested that upon receipt of the transfer of ownership of the property exempted from the registration tax, the Cadastral Office could first review and approve the issuance of the new title certificate before handing over the transaction documents to the General Department of Taxation.

He added that the main task of the Joint Working Group is to establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) to facilitate the effective implementation of the approval of relevant industrial operations between the two ministries and to ensure compliance with all legal provisions.

He added that although some properties have been approved by the government and are exempt from registration tax, companies and relevant institutions are still obliged to provide relevant documents to facilitate the GDT's entry of information into the property management database.

It should be noted that in order to maintain the employment sustainability of the workers and to improve the ability of low- and middle-income people to be able to afford affordable housing, the Royal Government has decided to introduce measures to extend the registration tax exemption on ownership transfer or possession of all types of housing in the form of a Borey with a cost of less than or equal to 70,000 USD until the end of 2024.

Registration tax is a tax payable when buying, selling, exchanging, donating, or placing real estate as shares in a company. The tax rate is equal to 4% of the total property value.