Mizzima
Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said at a meeting held on 4 December that they would collect more taxes in expanded areas as the Military Council is losing foreign exchange revenues and desperately needs finance for expenses.
The Military Council has been facing a financial crisis after the coup as fighting is spreading across the country and the national economy is in decline. They are now trying to collect more taxes from the people.
The junta chief said that the country needed taxes for development work in the country so that they would make sure to collect taxes at the existing rates and that no revenue would be allowed to run int arrears in the country.
The junta’s Internal Revenue Department says tightened tax collection would include restaurants, hotels and guesthouses, TV and media, gold and jewellery, mobile phones and accessories and other service sectors.
The Military Council is also working to collect taxes from Myanmar national overseas workers working under an MoU with the employment permit system, medical workers working in private hospitals and clinics and other basic taxes such as electricity and water and also planning to increase license fees for businesses.
The Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE) under the control of the junta’s Ministry of Mining notified to businesspersons on 15 September that they would increase the gems and jewellery license fees as the existing rates are not relevant in the current age.
The overseas workers working under MoU must send 25% of their salaries to their family members through official channels as remittances monthly or quarterly and those who failed to by abide this regulation will be barred for three years from overseas employment when they came back home. Moreover, the junta amended the Union Taxation Law 2023. Under this amended law overseas workers must pay 10% of their salaries to the State as income tax.
The inflation rate has grown since the 2021 coup and the Myanmar currency Kyat has been falling against hard currencies. The US dollar exchange rate has reached 3,700 Kyats against the dollar or a nearly three-fold change within two and half years.
Moreover, in the wake of escalating armed conflicts across the country, the junta is facing a huge budget deficit, they are not receiving foreign loans, and the receipt of internal revenues is declining.
The Internal Revenue Department says it hopes to double commercial tax receipts in the 2023-24 financial year.
