MEMBERS of parliament stressed the need for reforming taxes in order to foster the country’s current social and economic reforms while debating the Joint Public Accounts Committee’s report on the tax collection target for the second six months of this fiscal year during a session of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw yesterday.
Dr Thet Thet Khine of Dagon Township Constituency said that Myanmar is the lowest among ASEAN countries in terms of tax collection, adding that expenditures have exceeded tax collections annually.
Now is the time to reform the taxation system in order to increase the effectiveness of tax collection as the country’s total tax revenues have made up less than 5 per cent of the gross domestic product while total tax revenues as percentage of the GDP in Viet Nam and Singapore is 14 per cent and in China, India and Thailand is 17 per cent respectively, said the MP.
Taxation reform is critical for scaling up the country’s economic and social reforms, thereby contributing towards job creation and boosting the government’s performance in tax collection, she added.
In his discussion, Dr Myat Nyana Soe, secretary of the Joint Public Accounts Committee, pointed out that tax receipts fell below the target in seven types of taxes which are among 19 types of taxes in Myanmar.
Highlighting the importance of income tax, commercial tax, custom duty and special commodity tax for the country, the secretary said there is a need to raise some types of taxes year after year while there will be a decrease in other tax rates.
He called for the implementation of an effective taxation system, suggesting that it is necessary to hire International Tax Consultant Companies that can provide professional tax advices to individuals and businesses including the government and parliament.
Next, Deputy Planning and Finance Minister responded to the discussions, pointing out that a drop in income tax revenue was due to different income tax rates between the provisions of the Union Tax Law 2014 and 2015.
During yesterday’s session of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, an annual report of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission was discussed, with lawmakers and Chairman U Win Mra of the commission holding discussions on it.—Myanmar News Agency
Source: The Global New Light Of Myanmar
