The Myanmar Government recently made a significant amendment to the Myanmar Stamp Act focusing on the reduction of penalties for late or deficient stamp duty payments.
On 26 November 2019, the Union Parliament enacted Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 32 (Law Amending the Myanmar Stamp Act) which reduces penalties for late or deficient payments of stamp duty from ten times down to three times the due and outstanding tax amount. This reduced penalty will apply to agreements or instruments mentioned in Schedule 1 of the Stamp Act (e.g. service agreements, bonds and financing instruments, conveyance and transfer instruments, and leases) that are executed from the enactment date of this Law.
Under the Stamp Act, the stamp duty penalties apply if the instrument is belatedly stamped or if the tax officer assesses that the stamp duty previously paid by the taxpayer was deficient. For instruments executed or signed in Myanmar, the instrument is considered belatedly stamped if the stamping only occurs after the execution date. Meanwhile, for instruments relating to a Myanmar subject matter that were executed or signed overseas, the penalty will apply if the stamping only occurs after three months when the instrument was first received in Myanmar.
Prior to this 2019 Amendment, it was initially proposed in 2017 that the penalties for late payment of stamp duty be reduced from ten to three times the due tax amount. However, the 2017 Amendment ended up being passed without featuring such a reduction.
DFDL Contacts
Partner & Head of the Regional Tax Practice Group
Senior Tax Manager
DFDL Myanmar
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