Historical Background
1. Myanmar has implemented tax system since Myanmar historical king period. Systematic tax system is introduced in 1922 that British colonial regime. In that time Burma Income Tax Act (1922) was acted. During the Socialist Economic System, Income Tax Law (1974), Profit Tax Law (1976) and Goods and Services Tax (1976) were promulgated respectively. However the income tax system is concerned with the all sectors that State, Co-operative and Private sectors, profit tax has been applied only on private Sector and Goods and Services Tax was levied on State Sector in through out the country. When Myanmar has started its transition from a centrally planned economy to market-oriented one since late 1988, consequently Commercial Tax Law was promulgated (1990) and concerned with all three sectors instead of Goods and Services Tax.
Objective
2. The objectives of Myanmar Internal Revenue Department are as follows-
- to improve and strengthen the tax system
- to enhance revenue collection through the fairness
- to modernize the tax system
Organization
3. Internal Revenue Department (IRD) is headed by the Director General reporting to the Minister for Finance and Revenue. The Director General is assisted by the Deputy Director General. IRD is composed of 9 Directorates, namely-
Head office and research directorate
Personnel affair and training directorate
Account, statistic and general services directorate
Inspection and legal affair directorate
Income tax directorate
Profit tax directorate
Commercial tax directorate
Stamp duty directorate
State lottery directorate
Each directorate is headed by a director. Organization chart is shown in Appendix I.
Tax Year
4.Income of the taxpayer is computed on the basis of one fiscal year starts on April 1 and ends on March 31 of the following year. The fiscal year in which income is received is expressed as “income year” and the year following as “assessment year”. The taxpayers have to submit their income declaration form to the respective tax offices by 30 June. Moreover they also have to calculate their income and pay advance tax by 31 March.
Tax Structure
5.In the Union of Myanmar, the tax revenue is a major source of income, and it plays an important role in the matter of Public finance. Myanmar's tax structure comprises 15 types of taxes and duties under 4 major head namely;
(a) Taxes levied on domestic production and public consumption.
(b) Taxes levied on income and ownership.
(c) Customs duties.
(d) Taxes levied on the utility of state own properties.
6.These taxes and duties are administered by the different departments concerned and Myanmar Internal Revenue Department administers only two major heads (a) (b), namely taxes levied on domestic production and public consumption and taxes levied on income and ownership.
Of these two heading, the following five kinds of taxes and duties are administered by the Internal Revenue Department (IRD) |
