Recent amendments to tax administration in Myanmar

14 October 2021

The Myanmar Government has recently announced the introduction of a new tax e-filing management system, change of fiscal year and related amendments to the assessment of taxes.

This Article sets out the information provided on these changes by the relevant government departments.

E-filing

The Internal Revenue Department has announced the launch of an e-filing management system. Previously, taxpayers were required to lodge tax returns in person at the relevant tax office. However, the new system will at the outset only be open for use by taxpayers registered under the Large Taxpayers’ Office and the Medium Taxpayers’ Offices 1 to 5. These taxpayers are required to file their quarterly and annual returns via the new system from 1 December 2021.

Change of fiscal year

The Myanmar Government is in the process of implementing a change to the fiscal year. On 7 September 2021, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) announced the fiscal year will be changed to 1 April to 31 March (previously 1 October to 30 September) for banks, financial services companies and mobile financial services providers. For further information on the CBM announcement, please refer to our article titled “Myanmar fiscal year for banks and financial services providers to run from 1 April to 31 March”. 

Mirroring the CBM announcement, on 30 September 2021, the Department of Taxpayer Services for Medium Taxpayers Office 2 issued a letter informing taxpayers at its office that the change to the fiscal year will apply to these taxpayers. The six-month period from October 2021 to March 2022 will function as an interim budget period (“interim period”).

Assessment during interim period

On 1 October 2021, the Ministry of Planning and Finance issued Notification No. 510/2021 specifying procedures for the assessment of particular taxes for the interim period, including:

• Commercial Tax: To be assessed if the amount that is twice the total revenue from sales or performance of services for the interim period exceeds 50 million Kyats. 
• Personal Income Tax: No Personal Income Tax is to be assessed for income to be received or received during the interim period if the amount that is twice the total income to be received from salary does not exceed 4,800,000 Kyats. 
• Special Commodities Tax: To be assessed on the sale of tobacco, cheroots, and cigars if the amount that is twice the total revenue from such products for the interim period exceeds 20 million Kyats.