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Tax Audits and Transfer Pricing for the Transport and Logistics Sector

Event Details

Date:
November 17, 2023

Time:
09:00AM - 10:00AM

Venue:
Andersen in Cambodia Office

Note: All activities, publications, and events mentioned in this post were conducted under the name VDB Loi prior to our transition to Andersen in Cambodia on 18 September 2024.

Introduction

Cambodian tax issues for freight forwarders, liners and other international transporters, logistics service providers and their agents are among the most complex from all industry sectors. Often, payments for international transport made by customers go through Cambodian bank accounts of agents or subsidiaries and trigger GDT scrutiny. Shared services and allocation of global expenses at times been used by tax officials to impose taxes. New 2023 rules about agents and permanent establishments will muddle the waters further. What issues can you win in tax audits, and how to better arm yourself against transfer pricing disputes?

In this highly practical briefing, we focus on the real tax issues transport and logistics companies face in tax audits. What to do if the GDT feels your profit margin is too low, or when the payments you make to the head office must also be taxed?

Highlights

GDT practices on actual tax audits in the logistics sector: what are the key lessons learned?
Ocean freight and other payments for foreign liners or transports remitted by Cambodian agents, freight forwarders or subsidiaries
Are ocean freight fees, document fees and THC taxable in Cambodia?
Shared services, fees paid to group head office: tax audit challenges
Transfer pricing for logistics companies and service providers
What steps can you take to protect yourself from GDT challenges?
What is a normal or arm’s length profit margin for a logistics company? Actual case study

Speakers

Edwin Vanderbruggen

Senior Partner

Andersen in Cambodia

Edwin has over 30 years of experience as a legal and tax professional, academic, author, and government advisor. He has worked in Southeast Asia for nearly his entire career.

Edwin has built up vast experience advising sponsors, financial institutions, oil and gas supermajors, independent power producers, and other multinational enterprises on their projects in the region, including on multibillion dollar energy and infrastructure projects, mergers and acquisitions, and financing transactions.

He is renowned for his expertise in international taxation and investment, regional tax structuring, and tax planning.

He has assisted the governments of Cambodia (2006-2008 as a full-time adviser to the Minister of Finance), Thailand (2001-2005), Vietnam (2010), and Myanmar (2013-2020) on transactions or on issues such as legal reform, public finance, privatization, and taxation. He has also frequently consulted for IFC, ADB, the United Nations, and governmental agencies of Japan, Korea, and the Netherlands.

In his academic career, he has lectured at six prestigious universities in Europe and Asia, and written nine textbooks and over 40 scholarly articles, some of which have won scientific awards.

Laysym Sim

Partner

Andersen in Cambodia

Laysym is an experienced tax professional with a degree in management. He has over 20 years of work experience, including with KPMG in Cambodia, where he was responsible for relations with the tax authorities. Laysym works with a wide variety of clients, both local and international, across a broad range of industry sectors, with a particular focus on the real estate and transportation industries. He has advised on tax planning for large property projects, employee benefits, and has conducted tax due diligence on several major acquisitions in Cambodia.

Laysym heads the firm’s tax compliance and tax disputes teams. He has a long and proven track record of successful defense of multinationals, banks, and property developers. He also leads our transfer pricing practice in Cambodia.