On 20 January 2014, the Royal Palace issued a Royal Kram to promulgate the new Law on Geographical Indication Mark of Products, which relates to the protection of IP rights in Cambodia.
This Law sets out the proper registration procedure for Product Mark identifying the place where the product was produced. The objective of this Law is to protect the IP of the producers, as well as to conserve national identity and to promote knowledge and capacity to produce by the traditional way.
This Law gives full authority to the Ministry of Commerce to manage and be responsible for the registration of Product Marks. It also covers the registration of any foreign geographical indication Product Marks in Cambodia.
On 22 January 2014, the General Department of Taxation ("GDT") issued another Instruction relating to the Tax Determination of Interest Rate of Loans to partially supersede Instruction No. 1707 GDT on Tax Determination of Loans dated 2 October 2013. However, Instruction No. 151 preserves some of the provisions of Instruction No. 1707.
The preserved provisions concern the determination of withholding tax, maintaining that all taxation units ("Units") shall not apply deemed interest on loans upon which no interest expense has been recorded. Similar to the determination of profit tax, the Units shall not treat such loans as deemed subsidies.
Importantly, the new Instruction No. 151 has set out an interest rate benchmark limiting the interest rate of loans to: (i) a maximum of 120% of the market rate for loans from any unrelated person, and (ii) a maximum rate equal to the market rate for loans obtained from a related person. Moreover, the GDT must be notified of the existence of the loan no later than 30 days after the making of such loan. The notification must include the attachment of the loan agreement itself and other related documents. If any company fails to notify the GDT, the loan shall be considered as a gain in the assets of the company, which shall be taxable as profit tax.
This Notification, issued on 28 January 2014, sets out the procedure for the termination of business operations and for applications for Tax Clearance. The procedure applies to all Directors, Managers or Shareholders of companies which are subject to Large-Scale and Medium-Scale Tax Paying, and have their registered address in Phnom Penh.
A company which wishes to cease its business operations shall pay Stamp Duty Tax in the amount of KHR 1,000,000 (one million riels) to the account of the GDT and fill in all information as required in the application form of the Tax Administration. The company must attach the required documents, such as a Letter of Request to Cease the Business Operations, an original copy of the latest Certificate of Patent Tax, an original copy of the Certificate of VAT, a copy of the MOA and/or Certificate of Incorporation of the company, the last 3 months of Monthly Tax Filing, the latest Annual Tax Filing, the Notification Letter of Tax Redetermination for the Financial Year, and the Receipt of Payment of Stamp Duty Tax.
A company which wishes to apply for Tax Clearance shall clearly mention the Financial Year for which the company would like to clear its tax with the GDT in its Letter of Request and in its Notification Letter of Tax Redetermination for the Financial Year. In the Letter of Request, the company shall mention its name (in both Khmer and English language), Tax Identification Number, current address of the company, contact number of the company and ID card or valid passport of directors, managers or shareholders of the company.
On 25 February 2014, the Phnom Penh Municipal Office of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and Cadastral ("Phnom Penh Municipal Land Office") issued a letter to notify the Head of Cadastral Office, Head of Technical Cadastral and Geographic and all Heads of Land Management, Urban Planning, Construction and Land Offices that the Phnom Penh Municipal Land Office intends to start the implementation of the registration procedures of real rights as stipulated in the Prakas 30, jointly issued by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and the Ministry of Justice on 29 January 2013, starting from 15 March 2014.
Prakas 30 was issued to ensure the correct and efficient registration of transactions relating to real property in compliance with the Civil Code. It applies only to land which has had its ownership lawfully registered and land for which a Certificate of Possessory Right (or Certificate of Possessory and Enjoyment Right) has been lawfully issued.
Prakas 30 applies to the following categories of registration:
- Transfer, change, correction and extinguishment of ownership;
- Creation, transfer, change, correction and extinguishment of perpetual lease, usufruct, statutory liens, rights over pledge and hypothec; and
- Creation, change, correction and extinguishment of easement right.
