As part of the implementation of Myanmar’s Integrated Tax Administration System, the Internal Revenue Department (“IRD”) recently introduced an electronic filing (“e-filing”) system and has expanded the scope of electronic payment (“e-payment”) platforms in order for taxpayers to easily file returns and pay taxes.
We provide an overview of the IRD’s e-filing and e-payment systems below:
1) e-Filing System
The e-Filing is the online filing system of the IRD which will be used by the taxpayer to submit the relevant tax returns. Currently, the e-filing will be initially applied to the submissions for Specific Goods Tax (“SGT”), Commercial Tax (“CT”), and Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) returns. This e-filing system is not yet available for Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”) and Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) submissions. Nevertheless, the IRD will eventually roll-out e-filings for these returns.
In order to register for and use the e-filing system:
- The taxpayer must perform a one-off registration through the IRD’s website (https://efiling.ird.gov.mm/). The taxpayer will then receive an email from the IRD to confirm account registration. After confirmation, the taxpayer will receive an approval email from the IRD.
- The taxpayer can file tax returns online by providing the required information such as the Taxpayer Identification Number (“TIN”), registered tax office, email and password.
- If the taxpayer has appointed an external ‘Paid-Preparer’ (whether a firm or individual), the Paid-Preparer must also be registered separately on the IRD’s e-filing system.
The use of the e-filing system is not yet mandatory for all taxpayers as the system is still at the pilot stage. Nevertheless, the IRD is encouraging the use of the e-filing system in order to streamline filings during the COVID-19 pandemic and to make tax return submissions more convenient. This will also be in line with the e-payment system which will become mandatory starting from 1 October 2020.
2) e-Payment System
The IRD first introduced an electronic tax payment system in 2018. This year, the IRD expands the payment channels to include m-Banking, e-banking, i-banking and mobile payment systems. Taxpayers can currently make online tax payments through:
- AYA Pay, AYA m-banking and i-banking
- AGD One-pay system
- CBM –Net system (via a local bank)
- CB Pay, CB i-banking
- KBZ i-banking
- MAB m-banking
- MPU Debit card
- Sai Sai Pay-UAB bank
These e-payment platforms are available to taxpayers with a valid TIN. Based on the IRD’s recent announcements, the IRD will require taxpayers to use any of these e-payment platforms by 1 October 2020 or the start of the new financial year 2020-2021. For now, online tax payments apply to CT, CIT, SGT and Gemstone Tax but excluding PIT. However, the IRD will issue a separate announcement once the online PIT payment system is in place. The IRD will implement a mobile application where PIT payment information can be monitored instead of relying on the present system of tax payment booklets.
If tax payments will be made through a local bank account (via the CBM-Net System), the taxpayer is required to perform a one-off registration at the relevant tax office. Meanwhile, if payments will be made using other banking platforms (m-Banking, e-banking, i-banking and mobile payment systems), the taxpayer is not required to perform separation registrations with the tax office. In this case, the tax payment can be directly accessed through these systems using the taxpayer’s TIN. Once payment has been made, taxpayers will receive an acknowledgement from the respective online payment platform. Afterward, the tax office will email the taxpayer upon successful payment of the tax.
If you have any questions or wish to know more about the above, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The information provided here is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from qualified legal counsel for all specific situations.
Contacts
Partner & Head of the Regional Tax Practice Group
Senior Tax Manager, Myanmar