The annually enacted Union Tax Law (“UTL”) has been recently issued on 29 March 2024, applying to 2024 – 2025 Financial Year (“FY 2024 – 2025”) starting from 1 April 2024 and ending on 31 March 2025. The 2024 UTL comes into effect on 1 April 2024. The major changes in the 2024 UTL include […]

The Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Directive No. 2/2023 on 25 January 2023 requiring that withholding tax (“WHT”) and personal income tax (“PIT”) payment for non-resident taxpayers be made in foreign currency. However, due to lack of clear instructions and further guidance from the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”),we noted that taxpayers still made WHT […]

Myanmar has double taxation agreements (“DTAs”) in force with eight countries: the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, the Republic of Korea, and Laos, with a number of other DTAs in the draft stage, including Indonesia and Bangladesh. Accordingly, the tax imposts may be reduced by any DTAs that are currently in effect. The […]

The State Administration Council enacted Law No. 1/2022 on Amending the Union Tax Law 2021 (“Amended UTL 2021”) on 6 January 2022 to increase the commercial tax rate over internet services and expand the income layers of undisclosed sources of income for the financial year 2021-2022. The Amended UTL 2021 took effect on 8 January […]

Tax refunds for Commercial Tax (“CT”), Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”), and Specific Goods Tax (“SGT”) can arise if the total tax paid during the year exceeds the actual tax due for the year. Taxpayers can request a refund from the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) within a year from the date the notification of the tax […]

The Internal Revenue Department issued Public Ruling 1/2021 (“PR 1/2021”) on 17 June 2021, clarifying the definition of the right to use with regard to licenses, trademarks, and patent rights that fall under the payment category of royalties. The term “right to use” means: Using or the right to use any patent rights of literature, […]

The Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) has been implementing an online tax payment system since 2018; all taxpayers can process online tax payments using a Tax Identification Number (“TIN”), which is the same as a Company Registration Number with nine digits. There are three advance tax payment options accepted by the IRD – (i) tax payments […]

The Withholding Tax (“WHT”) regime is a mechanism to tax a non-resident for income derived from Myanmar. In the past, the definition of income derived from Myanmar included services performed both outside and inside Myanmar for Myanmar projects. Under Notification 47/2018, the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) has subsequently narrowed the interpretation to capture only services […]

With limited time left to settle outstanding tax payments for FY2019-2020 in order to avoid being exposed to penalties, taxpayers need to make sure their tax position is adjusted in accordance with the updated tax laws and regulations. Below is a checklist of key notes for preparing the FY2019-2020 year-end tax position. Have you considered […]

The past few months have been an interesting phase for taxpayers in Myanmar due to the tax reliefs granted under the COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan, changes in current tax regulations, the announcement of the draft Union Tax Law 2020 (“draft UTL”), and the draft new Income Tax Law.   What major changes are included under the […]

Please note that a Statement by the Internal Revenue Department, Yangon Region (“IRD”) has been issued regarding enforcing monthly Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) return filings and payments. This statement by the IRD states that as per the newly enforced Tax Administration Law (“TAL”) Section 40 (a) and Section 49(a), if the party responsible for deducting […]

The Union Taw Law (“UTL”) 2019 was enacted on 24 September 2019 by the Union Parliament (the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) and will be applicable for the Financial Year (“FY”) 2019-2020 (1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020). With the new income year commencing on 1 October 2019 and the Tax Administration Law (“TAL”) coming into force, […]

On 28 May 2019, the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) of the Ministry of Planning and Finance (“MOPF”) announced a change to the income year (formerly from 1 April to 31 March) of private and cooperative sectors (“taxpayers”) to 1 October to 30 September, effective from 1 October 2019. As a result, the taxpayers will have a […]

The 2018–19 financial year end is around the corner and all taxpayers have less than two months left for tax payments, tax returns, and possibly some tax planning. All taxpayers should now be in the process of planning their annual tax filings. Please be reminded that annual Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”), Commercial Tax (“CT”), and […]

The Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) has issued clarifications regarding Commercial Tax (“CT”) payment and offset timings. Clarification 2/2018 provides an explanation regarding CT payment timelines. CT charged to customers (“output CT”) is due the earlier of issuing invoice to customers or receiving payments. For example, if an invoice is issued to a customer in June […]

Due to the change in financial year, the end of the six-month gap period is approaching and the Union Parliament (“Pyidaungsu Hluttaw”) has announced a draft Union Tax Law 2018–2019 (“Draft UTL”) which will be effective from 1 October 2018. A few interesting points from the Draft UTL are outlined below: Financial year end Under […]

The slogan of the Dutch tax authorities is “We can’t make it more fun, but we can certainly make it easier”. A fair, easy, predictable and efficient tax system is an important factor in attracting foreign investment. Highlights Speed up the signing of double taxation agreements Prioritize implementing advance tax rulings for investors so that […]

The Ministry of Planning and Finance has enacted a new Withholding Tax (“WHT”) Notification 47/2018 (“Notification 47”) on 18 June 2018 which is effective from 1 July 2018. The Notification 47 abolishes 2% WHT for payments to resident citizens and resident foreigners for services rendered, goods purchases and lease payments within Myanmar. Government organization, ministry […]

The Union Parliament (the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) enacted the Union Tax Law 2018 (“UTL 2018”) on 30 March 2018, which went into effect on 1 April 2018. Below we provide a synopsis of the points most pertinent for taxpayers this year. The biggest change from the draft UTL 2018 is that the tax amnesty on undisclosed […]

In December 2017, the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) abolished the 2% Advance Income Tax (“AIT”) on goods exported via the Border Trade System for companies under self-assessment due to an increase in the tax compliance level of self-assessed taxpayers. Currently, only the Large Taxpayers’ Office (“LTO”) and Medium Taxpayers’ Office (1) (“MTO”) are under self-assessment; […]