Legal and Tax Updates

On 10 January 2020, the Minister of the MLMUPC issued Instruction No. 002 on Strengthening the Quality and Safety of Buildings (“Instruction No. 002”). Instruction No. 002 prohibits the performance of construction or demolition work without first having obtained the required permits, licenses and authorizations and states that buildings cannot be occupied and/or used if...

Welcome to 2020. The New Year brings new opportunities and new challenges. In Thailand it also brings into effect new rules for both property taxes and transfer pricing documentation and disclosure requirements. This alert provides a brief discussion of both. New Thai Property Taxes Take Effect In 2019, a new Land and Building Act was...

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (the “MOIT”) recently issued instructions to the provincial People’s Committees and Vietnam Electricity (“EVN”) under Directive No. 9608/BCT-DL dated on 16 December 2019 on the suspension of proposals and agreements for solar power projects under the feed-in tariff (“FiT”) regime (“Directive 9608”). Decision 11/2017/QD-TTg dated 11 April 2017 on...

On 6 December 2019, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (“MLMUPC”) issued Prakas No. 177 on Formalities and Procedures of Issuance of Occupancy Certificates for Construction Built Prior to the Enforcement of Construction Law (“Prakas No. 177”). The purpose of Prakas No. 177 is to ensure the overall quality, safety, security, public...

Our Tax Team wishes to remind you of the submission deadline for your annual Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”) return, annual Commercial Tax (“CT”) return, and annual Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) Salary Statement for the financial year ending 30 September 2019 (“FY 2019”). All taxpayers whether corporates or individuals must file their annual tax returns to...

Online Trademark Registration Portal in Myanmar A seminar on the forthcoming online trademark registration system will take place during the first week of December organized by the Department of Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Commerce (“Ministry”). It appears that through this seminar, the Ministry intends to introduce the new online trademark filing system and...

On 13 November 2019, the Microfinance Supervisory Committee under the Ministry of Planning and Finance released Directive No. 2/2019 on Customer Due Diligence for Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (“Directive”). This Directive must be followed by Microfinance Institutions (“MFIs”) operating in Myanmar and is aimed at strengthening reporting requirements for suspicious transactions...

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...

The Royal Government of Cambodia on the 25th of November 2019 signed its ninth (9th) Double Tax Agreement (“DTA“) with the Republic of Korea in Busan, South Korea.  The DTA was one of five agreements that were signed by Cambodian Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn and his Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha on the sidelines of...

With the aim of reducing unofficial offshore remittances and to provide a legal framework for such activities, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Notification No. 21/2019 regarding offshore remittance business license regulations on 15 November 2019 (“ORBLR”). The ORBLR embodies important provisions such as the application process for an offshore remittance business license (“ORBL”),...