Tax exemption on interest income questioned
The Ministry of Planning and Finance has issued a statement on February 19 that income tax will not be levied on interest from bank savings and deposits. The statement means that tax on interest from bank deposits will be exempted in the coming 2017-18 fiscal year. However, interest from bank deposits is not the kind of revenue which has been given permission to receive tax exemption according to the 2017 Union Tax Law, experts told the Myanmar Times. Bank interest rate was more than 10 percent in early 2012, and was reduced to 8pc in the following years. Nowadays, private banks have increased interest rate on fixed deposit accounts to attract more customers. The local banks have also increased interest rate by expanding the various types of fixed deposit accounts available to customers.
