On October 9, 2023, Laos issued Presidential Decree No. 003, which raised excise tax rates for certain goods, effective immediately. The move to increase excise tax rates comes amid the marked depreciation of the Lao kip (LAK). The Lao government is trying to monitor and discourage imports of non-essential products in order to reduce the outflow of foreign currency from the country. Increasing the tax rate for some of these products is part of these efforts. The specific products and excise tax rates are listed in the table below.   This new rate policy is also in line with recent government efforts to encourage avoiding payment in foreign currency to prevent the depletion of foreign currency reserves in Laos. In this regard, commercial banks have already taken action to ration the supply of foreign currency by prioritizing imports of essential goods, such as fuel. The products listed above formalize this impetus to prioritize certain imports and discourage others deemed not essential. In addition, the increased excise tax rates on fuel-powered vehicles show the commitment of the Lao government to move toward electric vehicles, which would also lessen the country’s dependence on fuel imports. For more information on these excise tax changes, or on any aspect of Laos’ international trade regulations, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].

On September 15, Revenue Departmental Order No. Por. 161/2566 was published, fundamentally changing how Thailand tax residents’ offshore-sourced income will be taxed. Under the order, starting from January 1, 2024, the offshore-sourced income of tax residents will be subject to Thai personal income tax (PIT) in any year that it is brought into Thailand. The purpose of this new rule is to ensure consistent tax collection practices among tax officers and to tackle tax avoidance strategies commonly used by individual taxpayers. PIT on Offshore-Sourced Income According to the resident rule in Thailand’s Revenue Code, Thailand tax residents (i.e., persons who reside in Thailand for at least 180 days in a calendar year) are subject to PIT on their domestic-sourced and offshore-sourced income. “Offshore-sourced income” is broadly defined to include income from work, business, or assets outside Thailand. Existing Practice Currently, Thailand tax residents’ offshore-sourced income is exempted from PIT if it is brought into Thailand after the calendar year in which it was earned. This exemption was adopted 28 years ago in the Revenue Department’s interpretation stated in a resolution from February 1985. This exemption by interpretation has led some Thailand tax residents to avoid PIT by simply holding their newly earned offshore-sourced income abroad temporarily and then bringing it into Thailand at a later time. Through the years, a number of tax rulings have affirmed this practice. New PIT Collection Rules for Offshore-Sourced Income Revenue Departmental Order No. Por. 161/2566 simply revokes the favorable exemption adopted under the February 1985 resolution so that the delay tactic is no longer able to succeed in avoiding tax. Starting from January 1, 2024, the offshore-sourced income of Thailand tax residents will be subject to PIT whenever it is brought into Thailand, at which time the offshore-sourced income must be declared to

Myanmar has issued amendments levying a new tax on nonresident Myanmar citizens’ salary income. The State Administration Council (SAC) instituted the tax by amending the Union Tax Law 2023 with Law No. 55/2023 on September 12, 2023, effective from October 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. As defined by Myanmar’s Income Tax Law, nonresident citizens are those who reside and earn income outside Myanmar at any time during the applicable financial year. The recent amendment to the Union Tax Law levies a tax on nonresident citizens’ salary income earned abroad, as detailed below, in addition to the 10% tax on other types of income obtained abroad without deducting the tax reliefs under sections 6 and 6-A of the Income Tax Law. The tax is payable in the same currency as the income obtained. This tax on nonresidents’ salary income earned abroad can be calculated according to whichever of the two methods below yields the lowest amount of tax due: The applicable salary income tax (0% to 25%) under the Union Tax Law after deduction of allowances for the respective financial year; or A 2% tax on salary income without deducting the amount of the exemption provided by sections 6 and 6-A of the Income Tax Law. Taxpayers may also subtract the amount of foreign taxes paid from the total tax calculated under this law. Employees of an overseas company who work remotely from Myanmar and receive payment from overseas are unaffected by this amendment as they are only involved as resident citizens. Payment Process Nonresident citizens must remit taxes to the Myanmar embassy in their country either monthly, quarterly, annually, or at the time of passport renewal. Evidence of tax payment must also be presented when renewing an overseas worker identification card at the Ministry of Labour, according to

Thailand has announced tax exemptions for issuers and holders of depositary receipts (DRs) of listed foreign securities to encourage DR transactions, create more investment products in the Thai capital markets, and promote and offer opportunities for retail investors to invest in foreign securities. The exemptions are laid out in the Royal Decree under the Revenue Code B.E. 2481 (No. 775) B.E. 2566 (Royal Decree No. 775), which came into force on August 16, 2023. DRs are certificates representing underlying foreign securities listed on a foreign exchange, but DRs are listed and traded on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Holders of a DR can receive the same benefits payable from the underlying listed foreign securities as direct holders of the listed foreign securities. According to the relevant notifications from Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), DRs include the following: Certificates that confer the right to receive financial benefits equivalent or in reference to the received financial benefit from certain underlying listed foreign securities held by the certificate’s issuer; Unitized instruments having the same terms and conditions for each unit and issued by a custodian for the purpose of representing the holder’s right to claim for the deposited underlying listed foreign securities subject to the deposit agreement, or other rights as described by the custodian in the instrument. Issuance of a DR is subject to similar approval and disclosure requirements as those the SEC sets for general securities issued in Thailand. The recently announced tax exemptions for DR issuers and holders—which also apply to fractional DRs (also called DRx)—are detailed below. Corporate Income Tax Exemption Under Royal Decree No. 775, companies or registered partnerships that issue a DR in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992) (SEA) are exempt from paying corporate income tax (CIT) for income