Myanmar News I. Notification 2/2017 on Withholding Tax II. Union Tax Law, 2017 III. Draft Law Amending the Special Goods Tax Law IV. Notification 6/2017 on Import of Goods March 2017 Legal and Tax Advice | www.luther-lawfirm.com Corporate Services | www.luther-services.com Myanmar News: Myanmar Tax Update 2017 Table of Content I. Notification 2/2017 on Withholding Tax II. Union Tax Law, 2017 III. Draft Law Amending the Special Goods Tax Law IV. Notification 6/2017 on “Procedures for legal action against imports in contravention of license, specifications” Annex I - Unofficial English Translation Annex II - Unofficial English Translation Annex III - Unofficial English Translation Annex IV - Unofficial English Translation 2 I. Notification 2/2017 on the purchase of goods and services shall not be required to withhold taxes from such payments. Withholding Tax Further, the internal policies provide, that the assessment On 10 January 2017, the Ministry of Planning and Finance is- whether a service or procurement is deemed to be made with- sued Notification 2/2017 with updated rates and regulations in in the country or procured from abroad is to be made by the Di- respect of withholding tax on interest payments, royalties for rector-General of the of the Internal Revenue Department. the use of licenses, trademarks and patent rights, and pay- ments for the purchase of goods, services performed and the leasing/hiring of property. The applicable withholding tax shall 4. Lease/Rental/Hiring be withheld, filed and paid – regardless of whether the pay- ment recipient has agreed to the deduction or not – in Myan- Previously, it was unclear whether rental payments are sub- mar Kyats in case of payments to resident citizens or resident ject to withholding tax. Pursuant to the Notification 2/2017, pay- foreigners and in the payment currency in case of payments to ments for “leasing/hiring arrangements within the country un- non-residents. der a (…) contract” shall be subject to withholding tax at a rate of 2% for payments to resident citizens and resident foreigners, Notification 2/2017, which clarifies previou ambiguities on the and 2.5% for payments to non-resident foreigners. Upon enqui- application of withholding tax to payments for offshore services ry with the Internal Revenue Department, it was verbally con- and lease agreements, will come into effect on 1 April 2017. It firmed that this definition includes rental payments for (residen- supersedes Notification 41/2010 dated 10 March 2010 and No- tial) premises within Myanmar. tification 167/2011 dated 26 August 2011. It should be noted, that pursuant to the internal policies of the Internal Revenue Department, individuals making rent- 1. Interest Payments al payments shall not be required to withhold taxes from such payments. Pursuant to Notification 2/2017, interest payment to non-resi- dent foreigners for a loan or indebtedness or a transaction of Further, the internal policies provide, that the assessment similar nature are subject to 15% withholding tax. No withhold- whether a lease or rental is deemed to be made within the ing tax applies to interest payments made to resident citizens country or procured from abroad is to be made by the Director- and resident foreigners. General of the of the Internal Revenue Department. 2. Royalties 5. Exemptions from Withholding Tax Payments for the use of licenses, trademarks, patent rights and No withholding tax shall be imposed on: other royalty payments to non-resident foreigners are subject to 15% withholding tax; royalty payments to resident citizens ■ Payments between government organizations and payments and resident foreigners are subject to 10% withholding tax. to government bodies and State-owned Enterprises; and ■ Interest payments to a non-resident foreigner/foreign owned 3. Purchases/Services company for a loan or indebtedness or a transaction of sim- ilar nature, if the non-resident foreigner/foreign owned com- Payments for the purchase of goods, work performed or supply pany provides the loan through a branch office within Myan- of services within the country under a tender, contract, quota- mar and undergoes tax assessment domestically. tion or other modes to resident citizens and resident foreigners are subject to 2% withholding tax; payments to non-resident foreigners are subject to withholding tax of 2.5%. 6. Minimum Threshold It should be noted, that pursuant to the internal policies of the If the total cumulative amount of all payments to a recipient Internal Revenue Department, individuals making payments for within a financial year does not exceed MMK 500,000, no with- 3 Myanmar News: Myanmar Tax Update 2017 holding tax shall be imposed. Kindly note, however, that a list of payment. In practice, the tax authorities do however allow pay- all such payments which do not exceed the prescribed thresh- ment on a monthly basis. old shall be submitted to the relevant tax office. While withholding tax on payments to resident citizens and resident foreigners may be set off against the annual tax ob- 7. Tax-Exempted Payment Recipients ligations, the withholding tax is final for non-resident foreign- ers, provided that it may be offset if such non-resident foreign- Pursuant to the internal policies of the Internal Revenue De- ers maintain a branch office in Myanmar and undergo domestic partment, enterprises exempted from income tax, e.g. pursuant tax assessment. to the Myanmar Investment Law, 2017 or the Special Econom- ic Zone Law, 2014, shall apply for confirmation of such tax ex- The internal policies further elaborate on the process emption with the Internal Revenue Department. as follows: ■ In case of payments to resident citizens and resident foreign- 8. Double Taxation Agreement ers, withholding tax shall be deducted and paid in MMK. In case of payments to non-resident foreigners, withholding tax If a non-resident recipient is a resident of a country with which shall be deducted and paid in the currency of the payment. Myanmar has entered into a Double Tax Agreement, and such recipient is able to provide a Certificate of Residency issued by ■ Withholding tax shall be deposited to the bank account of the tax authority of such country of residence, withholding tax the relevant Revenue Office within seven (7) days from the shall be processed at the rate prescribed in such tax treaty. day of deduction. In case of governmental organization, withholding tax, shall be deposited on the same day of the Myanmar has so far signed eight (8) Double Tax Agreements, deduction. and it should be noted, that not all of them provide for a full ex- emption, e.g. for payments for services provided: ■ The bank deposit slip should state the name of the person/ company/enterprise liable to pay the withholding tax (i.e. the ■ United Kingdom payment recipient, not the person deducting, filing and pay- ■ Socialist Republic of Vietnam ing the tax). ■ Republic of Korea ■ Malaysia ■ For payment, Form PaTaKha(WaNga)17 shall be used, ■ Republic of India which may be obtained from the relevant Revenue Office or ■ Republic of Singapore downloaded from www.irdmyanmar.gov.mm, and prepared in ■ Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic triplicate with the necessary particulars such as the name, ■ Thailand. address of the person/company from whom withholding Tax was deducted, the transaction concerned and the de- The internal policies of the Internal Revenue Department pro- partment/organization making the payment duly completed. vide in this regard, that an application shall be made in ad- Within seven (7) days of deduction, copies shall be sent to vance, together with the Certificate of Residence and, in case the relevant Revenue Office and to the recipient from whom of business income, sufficient information to establish that the withholding tax was deducted, with one copy to be retained recipient of the payment does not maintain a permanent estab- by the payer. lishment within the country. Comment Luther: For more information on the application pro- cess, please do not hesitate to contact us. 9. Payment of Withholding Tax Any person or enterprise deducting withholding tax shall file and pay the withholding tax within seven (7) days from such 4 II. Union Tax Law, 2017 1.4. Relief or Exemption from Income Tax Since 2014, the parliament announces changes to income tax, The new Union Tax Law, 2017 expressly provides for the Minis- Commercial Tax and Special Goods Tax on an annual basis. try of Planning and Finance’s power to grant relief or exemption On 25 January 2017, the parliament enacted Union Tax Law, on income tax in respect of income related to activities carried 2017, coming into force on 1 April 2017 (i.e. with the beginning out with donations or assistance provided by domestic or for- of the financial year 2017/18). eign entities as well as income related to public companies list- ed on the Yangon Stock Exchange. Please find below a summary of the most important changes introduced by the Union Tax Law, 2017. 2. Commercial Tax 1. Income Tax While Myanmar has not yet implemented a value added tax (VAT) system, Commercial Tax is levied as a turnover tax on a wide range of goods and services produced, traded or ren- 1.1. Corporate Income Tax dered within Myanmar as well as the import of goods based on the landed cost (i.e. the sum of the cost, insurance and freight The rate of corporate income tax remains unchanged at 25% value, and customs duties). under the new Union Tax Law, 2017. Exempted from the collection of Commercial Tax are only en- Newly established small or medium enterprises shall not pay terprises not exceeding the statutory annual threshold for tax- income tax on net profits not exceeding MMK 10,000,000 dur- able supply (sale of goods or services), which has been in- ing the first three (3) consecutive years including the year of creased from MMK 20,000,000 to MMK 50,000,000.