Publisher denies owing a $6m tax bill

“The estimated value of my contribution is more than $39,000,000,”

The publisher of the Cambodia Daily newspaper has hit back at the Finance Ministry’s tax department, which says the paper owes $6.1 million in back taxes.

In a letter to the department on August 9, publisher Bernard Krisher denied that the paper owed the back tax, claiming his philanthropic work should be credited.

“I wish to inform you that over the past 20 years I have built 561 five-room rural schools all over Cambodia,” Mr Krisher said .

“These schools are a donation to the Ministry of Education and the children of Cambodia.

“The estimated value of my contribution is more than $39,000,000,” he added.

Tax department director Kong Vibol last week sent out the demand that the paper resolve the tax issue for the years 2007 to 2016 within 30 days.

The demand followed a speech by Prime Minister HE in which he wondered why critical media outlets were operating without paying taxes.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has also asked the Ministry of Information to take legal action against radio stations VOA and RFA for allegedly failing to register for tax and operating without media licences.

Mr Krisher added in his letter that he supported more than 400 girls through scholarships to ensure they stayed in school and do not work in rice fields or fall victim to sex trafficking.

“I set up the Cambodia Daily in 1993, right after the civil war, as a social enterprise whose purpose was to train Cambodian journalists and provide accurate news to the Cambodian people,” Mr Krisher said.

“From the start, I never took a salary nor profited from the Cambodia Daily. What profits there were went to those schools.”

“The Cambodia Daily and I have made enormous contributions to support the national needs of Cambodia,” the letter added. “These should be credited. I refute that I owe the tax department $6.1 million.”

Mr Vibol declined to comment. “I am at the dentist and cannot talk now,” he said.

http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5078157/pub ... -tax-bill/

It's meaningless unless he filed the appropriate documents at the time. I doubt they will entertain retroactive claims to do with a tax system the CD did not even consider registering under.

I also suspect that an independent valuation of the schools will be substantially lower, probably less than 10% of that.

He can refute all he likes, but at the end of the day they will close, and their readers will have to attend copy and paste workshops so they, too, can find old news.

Incidently, it's almost exactly the same amount of tax they asked Nagaworld for this year.
The fact is Bernie did build the schools which I expect the god king was upset about. Not being the one to say "Here you are people, a present from the gracious hands of your hero", the PM. Careful, you don't turn into Lucan Vlad.
I thnk all the papers do a lousy job on certain issues here, but I'd rather have them than not.

Mr Vibol declined to comment. “I am at the dentist and cannot talk now,” he said.

Brilliant. Next time it could be "I am having open-heart surgery right now so cannot reply to your questions."

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:26 pm

Mr Vibol declined to comment. “I am at the dentist and cannot talk now,” he said.

Brilliant. Next time it could be "I am having open-heart surgery right now so cannot reply to your questions."

Lol
Yeah, I liked that bit as well. Gold star for originality. I did the sum on the schools and it works out at​ just over $60,000 per 5 roomed school. I presume that means many years of wages and back-handers too. I can't​ see them being allowed to build them for nothing on top. It's Cambodia after all. Still, it sucks when you're getting charged tax on government back-handers. Lol.

AlonzoPartriz wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:38 amCareful, you don't turn into Lucan Vlad.
I thnk all the papers do a lousy job on certain issues here, but I'd rather have them than not.

You know that they are in the pay/influence of external interest groups, with the end objective of turning Cambodia into a US-style environment.

Do you love western capitalism so much? How has that worked out for your home country?

Do you really think Cambodia would be better off as a US vassal?

How has that worked out for the US, let alone its allies? No decent free education, no free healthcare, lousy infrastructure, the list goes on

I'm independent, I have no loyalties, but I hate fake liberalism...oooh, Cambodia so corrupt, but not a word about genocide in Cuba when it was a US ally, the Philippines same, Chile the same, Israel, the illegal war in Iraq and so many other countries

It has only survived so far because no one here uses toilet paper and there is so little competition, we all know that.

It has only survived so far because no one here uses toilet paper and there is so little competition

Looks like a lol day today.

Let people note, I don't hold TOF's conveniently schizophrenic liberal/conservative ID -inspired views or have problems/sponsored hatred for the CD. I just think it's a shitty newspaper.

I don't think I'm alone in that.