The Internal Revenue Department (IRD) under Ministry of Planning and Finance is aiming to launch an Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) by next year, U Min Htut, Director General of the IRD, told The Myanmar Times. 

The ITAS will serve as a platform for administrative matter such as registration and payment processing for tax payers and will be implemented with the help of the World Bank. 

The move is part of a wider attempt by the authorities to encourage more residents to pay their taxes responsibly and help beef up the government’s coffers at a time when the budget deficit has widened to K4.9 trillion, the most in seven years, and public spending isn’t expected to slow. 

New technology, such as the ITAS and e-payment services, will be the key feature of the taxation reform process. The improvements will make it more convenient and less of a hassle for tax payers to pay their taxes. “By enabling tax payers to conduct all their tax affairs online, we can eliminate the need for them to physically come to the tax office and encourage them to comply with tax rates and pay on time, U Min Htut said.

The IRD is now holding the tender process to select an IT system service provider and waiting to receive a no-objection letter from the World Bank, after which the ITAS will be developed and go live by the end of 2019 or beginning of 2020, the IRD said.  

In 2017, the IRD launched its online payment system enabling residents to pay their taxes with Myanmar Payment Union cards. It will soon add a mobile banking feature to its system which will enable tax payers to pay their monthly commercial and special goods taxes as well as quarterly income taxes.

To modernise its public finance management system, Myanmar has received a US$30 million loan from the World Bank and a $25 million grant from the UK and Australian governments.