Mooted casino tax shot down by ruling party
Casinos are first and foremost for protecting Cambodia’s border, not for making money, government lawmakers insisted in parliament yesterday when drilled about their opposition to raising gambling taxes. Seizing on an off-the-cuff comment made by Prime Minister Hun Sen during a speech in August, Finance Minister Keat Chhon rejected opposition Sam Rainsy Party whip Son Chhay’s proposed 50 per cent tax on the net profit of casinos in Cambodia. “[The reason] why we established casinos along the border primarily was not to collect income. This, Samdech Techo [Hun Sen], had said already is to defend our border territory,” Kean Chhon said. …
