Policy Development·
VAT in Cambodia: Six Months Into 2026
Cambodia’s VAT agenda in the first half of 2026 has been driven almost entirely by the government’s response to rising global commodity prices. Three distinct measures — a food VAT exemption running to 2028, an emergency fuel VAT cut in March, and a further deepening of that cut in April — each follow the same structural logic: the state absorbs the VAT liability, allowing businesses to invoice at the reduced or zero effective rate while the General Department of Taxation (GDT) covers the difference. Alongside these relief measures, the GDT launched a new online platform to streamline the process of requesting the state-borne VAT certificates these incentives require. Together the developments reflect a tax administration that is using VAT as an active fiscal tool to manage inflation and cost-of-living pressures, rather than as a stable revenue base.
