Taxation

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: "Myanmar?s tax structure comprises 15 different types of taxes and duties under 4 major heads namely:..."
Source/publisher: ADB
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-07
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Taxation
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Description: "The sleepy afternoon of a Yangon street is woken up by the penetrating sound of music blasted from a passing Shwe-Yin-Aye hawker cart. Nothing can help one fight off heat like a bowl of icy and creamy coconut sorbet-like dessert filled with sago, glutinous rice and white bread pieces. People run towards the cart, ready to devour this cheap, tasty local treat. The hawker looks severely sunburned in worn-out clothes that reek of sweat. More than ten bowls of Shwe-Yin-Aye are sold in less than an hour on that stretch of street. He deposits roughly 10,000 kyats ($8) into his rusty safe. Smiles are exchanged, and he moves on to the adjacent streets. When darkness falls, he goes home with a total not less than 150,000 kyats (~$100). He already knows how much he has earned from the sight of three missing bread loaves. His monthly income totals up to 3 million kyats (~$3000), which is two times the reported GDP per capita of Myanmar (World Bank, 2017) . In Myanmar, cash is still king, and hawker shops are uncountable. Rolling carts and pop-up shops are extremely mobile, easy to assemble, and provide a great income source for the general population. Vendors sell everything from snacks and desserts to mixed-rice and produce, as well as accessories and more. These cash transactions may look small, with a bowl of Shwe-Yin-Aye costing 800 kyats ($0.8) and a plate of mixed-rice with one type of meat costing around 1,200 kyats (~$1). Yet, affordability means a large volume of sales. Small-cash transactions are happening at every corner of every street in Myanmar — unreported — with street hawkers, taxi & tutu drivers and the majority of small and medium businesses all conducted in cash. But, these are just small fish in a big sea of cash transactions. Beyond SMEs is the enormous cash generated from unregistered channels — created out of necessity and fuelled by greed — utilized by members of entertainment industry, border trade, real estate and government-service and so forth. The bottom-line is that these incomes are massive at the national level and sadly unreported. The public is avoiding — knowingly and unknowingly — millions in taxes, with The Economist declaring Myanmar as “one of the lowest tax takes in the world.” On the other end, there are employees at registered companies and licensed businesses struggling to stay afloat with high personal and corporate tax rates— of 25% for an annual income level that is recognized as below the poverty line in most developed countries such as income of £15,000 in UK or less than 60% of median income (Gov.UK, 2015), $25,100 for a family household in the US (ASPE, 2018) and AUD 20,784 in Australia or 50% of median income (Poverty in Australia, 2018). With leaders determined to increase Myanmar’s national revenue by raising the tax rate year-by-year, the outlook is bleak for the portion of the population with registered and taxable income (aka white money). The higher the tax rate, the more people will falsify their reported incomes in order to avoid taxation. This can be done simply by carrying out financial transactions in physical cash, which leaves no trace. The much-needed national tax revenue will then be borne solely by those registered under the Internal Revenue Department. Statistics on GDP and income level could not pinpoint these loopholes as effectively as one might hope, as the country is still poor with an average income of $100 a month per person. Such representation might be statistically correct, but it is not useful to alleviate tax evasion. Here is a country where the rich look poor and the poor look rich. Doing wrong is easier than doing right. A master’s degree brings less income than a red taxi. A Shwe-Yin-Aye hawker earns higher than a bank employee. Here is a million-dollar question. How shall we start taxing on Shwe-Yin-Aye?..."
Creator/author: Swe Zaw Oo
Source/publisher: TEACIRCLEOXFORD
2019-05-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Taxation
Language: English
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Description: "Paying taxes is at the heart of the social contract between government and citizen. When people pay taxes, they fulfill a core duty as citizens. Conversely, the act of paying taxes can empower citizens to demand that their government work better. Decades of authoritarian rule left Myanmar with a fractured social contract, limited provision of public goods, and one of the world?s lowest tax takes. Yet, times are changing. People?s expectations of what services their government should provide are rising. Taxes have begun to be reformed, and Myanmar?s tax take is beginning to grow..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: The Asia Foundation
2018-03-09
Date of entry/update: 2018-04-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Taxation
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 609.8 KB 1.39 MB
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Description: "We asked 1,400 people living in 3 cities of Myanmar what they thought about taxation..."
Source/publisher: The Asia Foundation
2018-03-09
Date of entry/update: 2018-04-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Taxation
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 255.67 KB 1.63 MB
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Description: "In 2017 The Asia Foundation and the Yangon School of Political Science conducted the City Life Survey, the first large scale survey in Myanmar to track public perceptions and lived experiences of urban life. More specifically, the survey provides the Foundation with data to systematically assess the tax attitudes of urban citizens in Myanmar and to investigate what they believe and understand about taxes and the tax system. This report draws on data from the survey. It focuses on three of the most important taxes in Myanmar: income tax, commercial tax, and property tax. The report explores the sources of citizens? attitudes toward taxation, taking into account the actual taxpaying experience and the means through which tax information is communicated to them..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: The Asia Foundation
2018-03-09
Date of entry/update: 2018-04-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Taxation
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 696.29 KB 4.23 MB
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Description: 1. Introduction...2. Government Revenue And Tax Structure...{Table - I Current Receipts [Kyat in billion]...Table - II Tax Revenue Structure and Tax Administering Departments]...Table - III Analysis of the Myanmar Tax Structure}...3.Income Tax:...4.Profit Tax :...5.Commercial Tax ...6. Measures for Tax Avoidance Syndrome...7. Custom Duties...8. Tariff Structure...10. Overview Structure of Accountability and Audit...11. Functions in Tax Revenue Audit...12. Audit of Income tax and Profit tax...13. Audit Of Customs Receipts...14. Report On The Results Of Revenue Audit...15. Training For Tax Audit
Source/publisher: Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI)
1998-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Taxation
Language: English
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Description: This is a presentation by Mr. Zaw Htoo, Deputy Director and Mr. Tin Ngwe, Assistant Director from Internal Revenue Department, Myanmar, at the Tax Administration Course in Tokyo 5-8 October 2004.
Creator/author: Zaw Htoo/ Tin Ngwe
Source/publisher: Asian Development Bank Institute
2004-10-08
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Taxation
Language: English
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Description: "The Network for Human Rights Documentation- Burma (ND-Burma) released its first report, "We have to give them so much that our stomachs are empty of food: The Hidden Impact of Burma?s Arbitrary and Corrupt Taxation." Based on 342 interviews, the report reveals how widespread, arbitrary taxation damages the country?s economy, exacerbates poverty, and contributes to the ongoing and systematic violation of the people?s most basic right to an adequate standard of living, housing, and education. ND-Burma?s report reveals how the Burma?s ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and its supporting agencies are responsible for this repressive taxation system which includes the appropriation of non-monetary assets including the arbitrary confiscation of land, property and forced labor, indicating serious breaches of international laws. While the majority of the people of Burma live in abject poverty, the regime spends a paltry (CIA) 1.3% of GDP on health and education, and Burma is the only country in the region whose military budget is greater than that of health and education combined. ND Burma?s research revealed that households and businesses are excessively taxed leaving more and more people struggling to survive. Not only is taxation excessive but the poor administration of the system means that households and businesses do not know when taxes have to be paid and the size of their tax liabilities. This is coupled with a system of government expenditure that is not directed towards the needs of Burma?s population, instead resources are allocated to a bloated military and economically wasteful and expensive infrastructure projects. A villager from Mon State describes the burden of taxation, ?On average, we villagers have to provide military government organizations with more than 10,000 Kyat a month (about 10 USD). Even though we have no food to eat, we still have to pay them. At the hands of the SPDC we have to work harder but we still have not enough food for our families.? "
Source/publisher: Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND Burma)
2010-09-01
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 4.16 MB
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