How to Apply for a Certificate of Residence from the Internal Revenue Department of Myanmar?

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 relief under the applicable DTA is not automatically granted and the taxpayer concerned must submit their arguments and evidence to the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) for review before their tax becomes due. Certificate of residence (“COR”) will be required in a DTA application.

The requirements and documents for applying for a COR of Myanmar are summarized below as per the IRD’s notification letter.

Who is eligible to apply for a COR from the IRD?

• Individuals who are residents of Myanmar (defined as having resided in the country for 183 days or more during a financial year)  
• Any association of persons, including a partnership, joint venture, company, association formed by individuals, association or institution formed or registered under existing law, cooperative society, and government enterprise

What are the requirements to apply for a COR?

For individuals:

• Have a taxpayer identification number (“TIN”) or a general index registration (“GIR”) number issued by the relevant tax office of the IRD.
• Have no outstanding tax payments.

For associations of persons:

• Have a TIN or a GIR number issued by the relevant tax office of the IRD.
• Have filed an income tax return for the relevant financial year with the relevant tax office of the IRD.

The IRD sometimes allows exceptions to the above for individuals that have not yet met the Myanmar residency requirement and for newly-incorporated entities.

Application documents

Below is a summary of the documents and information required for the application.

For individuals:

• IRD’s prescribed application form (TRCA-COR-2)
• Documents that show the applicant’s residency status in Myanmar
• Employment-related documents
• TIN or GIR
• Tax payment receipts (challans)

For associations of persons:

• IRD’s prescribed application form (TRCA-COR-1)
• Relevant company incorporation documents and TIN or GIR
• Copy of passport and visa that is valid for a stay in Myanmar of at least six months (if any), or a copy of the national registration card of the representative of the association
• A true copy of the association’s last submitted annual audited financial statements
• Lease agreement or ownership agreement for the office/workplace
• Tax payment receipts (challans)

Timeline

The COR application process takes approximately one month from the date of submission to the relevant tax office; the final approval for issuance of the COR will be made by the IRD in Nay Pyi Taw.

Validity

A COR is valid for the one relevant financial year only; a new application must be filed for each relevant financial year for which a DTA application will be submitted to the IRD. The IRD does not issue CORs for any future periods.