Myanmar: Online tax payment system to be introduced in February
Instead of making tax payments in cash, a more convenient online payment system will be implemented by the state banks early next year, said deputy director general Dr Khine Shwe Whar from the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM).
“This online customer-to-customer transfer (CCT) payment system will start in February 2018,” she said in a meeting at the Ministry of Commerce in Nay Pyi Taw on November 30.
The move will make paying taxes much easier for taxpayers and encourage more to pay their due to the government. Currently, taxpayers must pay their taxes at state-owned Myanma Economic Bank (MEB), which issues a receipt for each payment made. That receipt must be submitted by the taxpayer at the Internal Revenue Department.
“It is a waste of time and money,” said Dr Khine Shwe Whar.
By implementing an online tax payment system, all payments of tax will go directly to the country’s coffers, reducing inefficiencies as well as opportunities for corruption, she added.
The CBM will implement this system step by step, starting in the Yangon Region.
With the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), CBM first started working on developing an online payment system in 2014.
Myanmar has been ranked at 171 out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s the Ease of Doing Business report. With the aim of reaching a higher rank on that index, the CBM has raised efforts to improve the country’s tax payment system.
Deputy Minister for Planning and Finance U Set Aung also said in Parliament that he hopes the country would raise its ranking on the index over the next few years after the government implements a functional online payment system as well as facilities enabling payments to be done through mobile phones.
Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/online-tax-payment-system-be-introduced-february.html