Change of the Financial Year for Banks, Financial Service Companies, and Mobile Financial Service Providers in Myanmar

On 7 September 2021, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued a letter notifying all banks, financial service companies, and mobile financial service providers about a change to their financial year that will take effect from the 2022-2023 financial year onward. According to the CBM’s letter, the financial year (previously from 1 September to 30 October) will change to be from 1 April to 31 March.

As a consequence, the six-month period from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 (“FY2021-2022”) is specified as an interim budget period for all banks, financial services companies, and mobile financial service providers. How taxes will be handled for this interim budget period is not clear, as the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) has not yet issued detailed instructions for calculating taxes for this period.

The IRD does not issue any notification regarding with the change of financial year yet. We understand that the change of financial year and its detailed instructions for calculating taxes will be covered under the Union Tax Law which will be issued soon.

At this point in time, the change of financial year seems to apply only to banks, financial service providers, and mobile financial service providers as per the notification from CBM. Therefore, banks, financial service companies, and mobile financial service providers will need to adjust their financial practices to comply with the new timeline laid out in the CBM’s letter.