The government is doing all it can to address the double taxation issue between Cambodia and the Philippines, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Monday.

“We are working very hard on the issue of double taxation between our two countries,” President Marcos told Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet during their bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the 50th Australia-ASEAN Special Summit in Melbourne.

“And I just wanted to assure you that we are doing the work for that wo we do not have that kind of situation that we … because if we are going to talk about increased trade between Cambodia and the Philippines, that has to be sorted out, we cannot leave it there,” he added.

“But, I just wanted to assure you that we have gone through this process with other countries before, especially around Asia. And I’m pretty confident that we’ll find a good solution,” President Marcos said.

In response, Prime Minister Hun said his government will also work on the issue as Cambodia makes similar initiatives with quite a number of countries to improve trade and investment system mechanism.

Philippines and Cambodia first held their discussions on the double taxation agreement in Manila in 2018 and made similar efforts in the succeeding years.

Under the agreement, residents of one country receiving income in another contracting state, or vice versa, will not be taxed twice for the same income, property or investment. The agreement also provides tax relief in the form of exemptions or preferential tax rates.

The agreement will also prevent tax evasion and at the same time, encourage foreign trade and investments between the two nations. PND