Here’s the plain-language breakdown of this GDT instruction:
What this is about
Cambodia wants more investment in its four poorest, most remote provinces — Kratie, Stung Treng, Ratanakiri, and Mondulkiri. So the government created a special package of tax breaks for businesses that set up or expand there between 2025 and 2028. This document is the “how-to” for actually claiming those breaks.
Step 1: Get approved and registered (before anything else)
You can’t get any tax break until you do two things:
- Get “Approval in Principle” — apply through a body called the IPWG-NE (Investment Promotion Working Group for the Northeast). You can apply in Phnom Penh, online, or through the provincial government.
- Get your tax status sorted, which depends on your situation:
- New/unregistered business → register through IPWG-NE with the right form (101-P2 through 101-P5) to get your digital tax certificate.
- Already registered business → submit your existing TIN and VAT/Patent certificates to IPWG-NE to update your status.
- Company with multiple projects → you need a separate TIN just for the Northeastern project.
Think of this as: no registration = no incentives, no matter how qualified your business is.
Step 2: The tax breaks you get, and how to claim each one
Once approved, you don’t get these automatically — you have to actively select/declare them each time you file. Here’s what’s on offer:
| Tax | What you save | How you claim it |
|---|---|---|
| Withholding tax on real estate rent | Free for 3 years | Tick “Tax Exemption” in monthly e-Filing |
| VAT | 0% on local production inputs | Apply to IPWG-NE with your supply contracts, then select 0% on invoices |
| Patent tax | Free for 3 years | Claim + print certificate via e-Payment system |
| Signboard tax | Free for 3 years | Tick exemption in the GDT Taxpayer App |
| Salary tax (for employees) | Fully free if an employee earns under 2,000,001 Riel/month (normal rates above that) | Tick “QIP Northeast” box in e-Filing — system calculates it for you |
All the “3 years” periods start from when IPWG-NE approves you (patent tax starts from registration/update instead).
Step 3: The big one — income tax exemption
This is the main financial benefit, covering Prepayment of Tax on Income, annual Tax on Income, and Minimum Tax.
- Ordinary businesses (not in a priority sector): get 3 extra years of exemption on top of whatever you’d normally get under Cambodia’s standard investment law.
- Priority sector businesses: get a flat 12 years of exemption, starting from the year you first earn revenue.
Either way, you still must file every month/year — you just manually mark your return as “Zero Percent Rate” or “Exempt” rather than skipping the filing.
Step 4: If you’re expanding an existing business (EQIP)
If your business already exists and you’re expanding into the Northeast, you get 3 extra years of income tax exemption too — but only on a portion of your income, proportional to how much of your total capital the expansion represents.
The math:
- Expansion ratio = Expansion Capital ÷ (Expansion Capital + Original Capital)
- Exempt income = Total Taxable Income × that ratio
Example from the document: Original capital = 100,000M Riel, new expansion = 53,850M Riel → ratio = 35%. So only 35% of your taxable income is tax-free for 3 years — the other 65% is taxed normally.
You just enter the “Expansion Capital Rate” in the e-Filing system and it calculates this for you automatically.
Bottom line: Register first, then actively tick the right exemption boxes every time you file — nothing is applied automatically just because you’re located in the zone.
Cam Accounting & Tax Service Co., Ltd., a member firm of Kreston Global, holding a GDT tax agent license, Accounting, Auditing, and liquidator licenses from ACAR, and accredited by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and Trust Regulator (TR).
For more information, please contact our Accounting, Tax and Audit Expert
Ms. Haing Sivtieng, MIPA, MBA
Partner
Chinese Line: +855 89 777 589
English line: +855 93 33 5158
Mr. Keat Heng, ACCA, CPA, FCCA
Partner
Mobile: +855 12 753 257
E-mail : info@krestoncambodia.com
Website: www.krestoncambodia.com
Instruction No. 29534 GDT_28Aug2026_SPIN Instruction
Tax incentives under the special program to promote investment in the four northeastern provinces
Read PDF File “KH” 
Read PDF File “Eng”
