Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - The current tax rate in Burma for the sale of real estate appears to have been extended for one more year, according to sources close to the Internal Revenue Department. Rumours were circulating since June saying that the authorities would increase the tax rate.
The rumour was believed by speculators and many in the real estate community who said that authorities would announce a new property rate because many retired military officers had bought land and buildings under other people’s names and then changed the name to their name in order to pay taxes at the existing rate before the rumoured increase.
Sources said that the current one-year tax policy will expire on August 12, and since a new announcement has not been issued, it appears that the current taxation policy will be renewed.
“When I asked the Internal Revenue Department about it, it said the tax rate would not be changed. It said that it had not been given any new instructions,” a Rangoon-based real estate agent told Mizzima.
The current tax system was established by the Internal Revenue Department in August 2007. A buyer who cannot prove his or her source of income has to pay 50 per cent of the value of real estate and immovable property to the government as a profit tax.
The current real estate sales tax limit is 12 per cent for sales worth more than five billion kyat or 15 per cent for sales below five billion kyat. The 15 percent tax comprises seven per cent for a revenue stamp and eight per cent for a profit tax. The 12 per cent tax comprises seven per cent for a revenue stamp and five per cent for a profit tax.
