Myanmar readjusts tax rate on real estate deal

Myanmar readjusts tax rate on real estate deal

Myanmar readjusted tax rate on real estate deal by reincreasing the rate by 22 percent in terms of value on the deal after a provisional measure of reducing such tax had remained unchanged for four years since August 2007, local press reported Sunday.

Buyer, who fails to declare one's source of income for the purchase, is now reset to pay 37 percent tax over the deal against 15 percent introduced in 2007 when it was once reduced from a heavy 50 percent prescribed in 1976, reported the Flower News.

The reincrease of the tax rate is said to burden the buyer. Real estate service agencies estimate that once the purchasing power drops, the real estate prices could fall slightly.

Estate dealers said they would monitor closely the development for at least six months to see if there is probable resumption of the business.

The 15 percent tax rate introduced in 2007 were designated to be paid for the purchase of a value of up to 500 million Kyats ( about 574,700 U.S. dollars) and 12 percent for above the value, according to then amendment.

However, sale tax for such real estate remained unchanged with 10 percent levied over the profit gained.

Myanmar's real estate business revived in late 2007 regaining high prices since then and the prices of land plots, houses, buildings and apartments lying in the commercial center of six Yangon downtown areas especially on the main roads have risen six times compared with the previous five years ago.

xinhua