Foreign companies engaged in oil and gas projects in Myanmar are to pay income tax for sale of assets under a fresh measure taken by the Myanmar finance authorities, according to a report of the local Weekly Eleven News Monday.

An income tax ranging from 40 to 50 percent will be levied in foreign exchange if derived from the sale, exchange and transfer of share, assets, ownership and benefit of the companies, an order of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue was quoted as saying.

The measure will be effective at a date back from June 15, 2000, the order said.

According to official statistics, dozens of foreign oil companies are engaged in the oil and gas sector which mainly include those from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand.

The statistics also reveal that since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988, such investment in the oil and gas sector had reached 2.635 billion U.S. dollars as of January this year, dominating the country's foreign investment sectorally.

Source: Xinhua