Myanmar - Burma

Would you take a five-year tax holiday? Set up a company in Myanmar (Burma) and you can get them. Myanmar's economy is one of the weakest in the region in terms of GDP per capita, although under British rule it was the second richest country in Southeast Asia. This has greatly influenced government policy since independence in 1948. Since 2011, however, the civilian government has been implementing some economic and political reforms, resulting in increased foreign investment and the lifting of international sanctions.

Although in recent years the state system has changed to a presidential republic, the winning party is still closely tied to the military. There is strong censorship in the country. Only 1 % of the population has access to the Internet, and all websites are subject to government approval.

Doing business in Myanmar

Opportunities for development and investment. Burma is still not a 100% developed country and thus offers many investment opportunities. The government is trying to attract foreign capital to the country and therefore offers new companies a five-year tax holiday (the base rate is 25 %). Would you like a tax holiday?

Depending on the area of business, it is possible to obtain additional tax reliefs. If a foreign company only has a branch in Myanmar, its profit is taxed at a rate of 35 %. The payment of dividends is not subject to withholding tax.

The revision of commercial laws is very important in order to reduce the bureaucratic process of setting up a company.

New customer markets. Its geographical location is particularly suitable for investors who want to get in touch with the huge markets of India or China – the two largest markets in the world. It is also necessary to mention the cheap labor force. In Burma, the monthly income of an unskilled worker is around fifty dollars.

Myanmar allows non-residents 100% ownership and management of a local business. You can be 100% owner of your business and you don't need to hire anyone locally.

The most common form of business is the Limited Liability Company, equivalent to the Czech limited liability company.
The company must have a minimum of two and a maximum of fifty shareholders, the minimum number of directors is two. A company can be established either under the so-called Myanmar Companies Act (MCA) or under the Myanmar Foreign Investors Law (mfile). The advantage of the second variant is that it allows the use of government tax incentives.

The company's share capital is $500,000 in manufacturing and $300,000 in services. For companies under the MCA, these limits are $150,000 or $50,000.

In recent years, a number of treaties preventing double taxation have been signed with other countries. Contracts have been signed with Singapore and the UK should you be interested in those markets. Although a new law on investments was approved in Burma at the end of 2012, the country still remains in 182nd place out of 189 evaluated countries in the Doing Business ranking, which evaluates the friendliness of the environment for doing business and is compiled by the World Bank.

However, when Western economists and analysts refer to Nyanmar, they refer to it as a new frontier. According to them, this is one of the last „virgin areas“ where today large and small foreign companies can start a business and still earn decent money.

Companies such as the American energy giant Chevron or the Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor are flocking to the country.

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