What is the basic personal relief under Myanmar PIT?
Myanmar PIT grants every resident salaried employee a 20% basic personal relief on assessable salary income, capped at MMK 10,000,000 per year. The relief applies once to gross income, before bracket rates. The cap binds only when annual salary exceeds MMK 50,000,000. Non-residents are not eligible.
Step-by-step calculation
This explainer assumes a Myanmar tax resident on a salaried role, with no spouse, child, or parent allowances claimed and no allowable donations. The Myanmar tax year runs 1 April – 31 March. The 20% basic personal relief is the first deduction taken from gross assessable income before the Union Tax Law 2025-2026 brackets are applied.
Step 1 — Apply the 20% basic personal relief
Section 6 of the Income Tax Law (as amended) grants a flat 20% basic personal relief on assessable salary income. The relief is capped at MMK 10,000,000 per year. The cap binds only above MMK 50,000,000/year of salary — below that level, the relief is the full 20%.
Three rules to apply correctly:
- Apply once, to gross assessable salary income — never to a net figure.
- The cap is annual, not monthly. Pro-rate over 12 months in payroll.
- Eligible only for resident taxpayers (≥ 183 days presence in Myanmar in the tax year).
| Annual gross salary | (your figure) |
| Less: 20% basic personal relief | − up to MMK 10,000,000 |
| Less: spouse / child / parent allowances | 0 in default case |
| Annual taxable income | = residual |
Step 2 — Apply the Union Tax Law 2025-2026 brackets
After the relief, the residual taxable income runs through six progressive bands. 1 Lakh (L) = MMK 100,000.
| Annual taxable income | Marginal rate |
|---|---|
| 1L – 20L (MMK 0 – 2,000,000) | 0% |
| 20L – 100L (MMK 2,000,000 – 10,000,000) | 5% |
| 100L – 300L (MMK 10,000,000 – 30,000,000) | 10% |
| 300L – 500L (MMK 30,000,000 – 50,000,000) | 15% |
| 500L – 700L (MMK 50,000,000 – 70,000,000) | 20% |
| 700L & above | 25% |
Worked example — salary MMK 12,000,000/year. Relief is 20% × 12,000,000 = MMK 2,400,000 (well under cap). Taxable = MMK 9,600,000.
| Band | Amount in band (MMK) | Rate | Tax (MMK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 0% | 0 |
| Next 7,600,000 | 7,600,000 | 5% | 380,000 |
| Annual PIT | MMK 380,000 | ||
Step 3 — Convert to monthly withholding
- Monthly PIT withheld: MMK 380,000 ÷ 12 ≈ MMK 31,667/month
- Monthly gross salary: MMK 1,000,000
- Monthly PIT-only net: MMK 968,333
What about SSB and the true net salary?
SSB sits alongside PIT as a separate statutory deduction. Employees pay 2% SSB on wages capped at MMK 300,000/month — max MMK 6,000/month. Employers add 3% (max MMK 9,000/month).
| Monthly gross | MMK 1,000,000 |
| Less: PIT | − MMK 31,667 |
| Less: SSB (employee, capped) | − MMK 6,000 |
| Monthly take-home | MMK 962,333 |
Employer takeaway
Apply the 20% basic personal relief to gross salary first, capped at MMK 10,000,000/year, only for resident employees. The relief is the largest single PIT deduction for most salaried staff. Run residual taxable income through the brackets, withhold monthly PAYE, remit to IRD by the 15th of the following month, file annual reconciliation by 30 June, and retain payroll records for 7 years.
Common variations to watch for
- High earners (above MMK 50M/year) — relief caps at MMK 10,000,000.
- Non-resident employees — no basic relief; flat 25% on Myanmar-source income.
- Mid-year joiners — pro-rate the relief monthly so PAYE stays even.
- Married with dependants — stack spouse relief and child relief on top of the 20%.
- Multiple employers in a year — relief is annual, not per-employer; reconciled at year-end.
Common basic-relief mistakes
- Stacking the relief on net pay — apply once, to gross.
- Granting the relief to a non-resident expat — only residents qualify. See resident vs non-resident.
- Forgetting the cap on high salaries — at MMK 60M salary, relief is capped at MMK 10M, not 12M.
- Myanmar Income Tax Law (as amended) — basic personal relief and allowances
- Union Tax Law 2025-2026 — Section 5(a) (PIT brackets)
- Social Security Law 2012 — SSB 2%/3% rates and MMK 300,000 wage-base cap
Related questions
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