Rangoon (Mizzima) – In a move to try to come to the aid of hard-hit exporters in Burma, export taxes have been reduced three percent from 10 per cent to seven per cent.
The regulation went into effect on July 1. Exporters will pay a tax of five percent and two percent for income tax.
According to an official from the Ministry of Finance and Revenues, the government reduced the export taxes to give exporters some relief because they have suffered from the high exchange rate for Burmese kyat.
The decision was made in a Union government meeting on June 30, according to the official.
A separate source close to the government said that although President Thein Sein wanted to reduce the export taxes to five percent, Finance and Revenues Minister Hla Tun urged him to stick with the seven per cent export tax of rate.
On Tuesday, the Burmese kyat exchange rate was 800 kyat per US $ 1. The sell rate was 810 kyat per US$ 1, according to the foreign currency market in Mahabandoola Road in Rangoon.
Meanwhile, exports have fallen, and the harbour in Rangoon is full of empty containers, sources said.
“Harbours do not have enough space to put the empty containers, so they have been put in plots across Rangoon,” a harbour agent told Mizzima.
