Laos has returned its value-added tax rate to 10% from the 7% rate that had been observed for the last two years. The new rate was specified in Ordinance No. 003/PDT, dated March 19, 2024, and announced on the website of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce. Prior to this, the last announcement of an adjustment in the VAT rate came in the last week of December 2021, when the Ministry of Justice published the Law Amending Certain Provisions of the Laws on Tax No. 01/NA, dated August 7, 2021, in the Government Gazette. This law, which entered into force in January 2022, amended the VAT rate from 10% to 7%. Under Lao law, the ordinance is effective from its date of signing by the president of Laos (i.e., March 19, 2024). However, the tax authorities have indicated that the new rate will not be enforced immediately but will be implemented in the near future, such as when it is published in the Lao Official Gazette. This change of the VAT rate to 10% does not come as a surprise. Some international experts and organizations had been recommending that Laos adopt a 10% VAT rate given its current economic challenges, arguing that Laos should prioritize collecting tax and replenishing the state budget. This was, for instance, recommended by the World Bank in the November 2023 Lao PDR Economic Monitor. Tilleke & Gibbins will continue to monitor the situation to determine when the 10% VAT rate will be enforced. For more details on the rate changes, or on any aspect of tax law in Laos, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].

Lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins’ labor and employment team have contributed a new Vietnam chapter to Thomson Reuters Practical Law’s Employment and Employee Benefits Global Guide. The guide provides a high-level comparative overview of employment laws and regulations across various jurisdictions around the world. Tilleke & Gibbins also contributed the Myanmar chapter of the guide. The Vietnam chapter covers a wide range of typical employment matters, such as limitations on working hours, paid leave requirements, minimum wage, and health and safety obligations. In addition, the guide provides insight on a number of topics of special interest to foreign investors doing business in Vietnam, including the following: Mandatory contents of a labor contract; Visas and permits required for expatriate employees; Employers’ obligations for protecting employees’ privacy and personal data; Procedural requirements for the dismissal of an employee; Employer and parent company liability. To read the Vietnam chapter, please visit the Practical Law website (subscription required) or click on the button below for a PDF.

Tilleke & Gibbins is pleased to announce the release of Company Directors in Thailand: Guidelines and Q&A on Duties and Liability. This publication is a go-to resource for prospective and existing company directors who need to understand the duties and liabilities that come with assuming this important corporate role. Authored by Kobkit Thienpreecha, partner and director of the firm’s corporate and commercial department, Company Directors in Thailand provides key information topics essential for companies and their directors to know as they engage in the Thailand market. In the guide, Kobkit, who regularly leads training sessions on directors’ liability for directors at many of the top companies in Thailand, gives an overview of directors’ role and responsibilities as well as the civil and criminal liabilities they could potentially face. This is followed by a Q&A section that directors frequently ask regarding their liability and the legal actions that could be brought against them. The full guide can be downloaded as a PDF through the button below.

The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has announced the opening of the trial period for MIC-permitted or MIC-endorsed companies to reenter investment data for using the Myanmar Investment Online (MyInO) system. The trial period is open until June 30, 2024. The MyInO system allows for the submission and recordal of applications for investment under the Myanmar Investment Law. With the implementation of phase 2 from September 1, 2023, applications for the appointment or resignation of foreign experts and employees within MIC-permitted or MIC-endorsed companies can now be submitted manually or through the Investment Monitoring System available on MyInO. To initiate the application process in MyInO, applicants are required to create an account on the platform. Subsequently, companies holding an MIC permit or endorsement must reenter all investment-related data since the obtaining of the relevant permits/endorsements, in compliance with the announcement. Following this data update, applications can be filed through MyInO. After this trial period, the submission of applications for appointments will be available online. The benefit of using MyInO to submit a foreign expert or employee appointment or resignation application is that the application can be submitted within 30 days of the foreign expert’s arrival in Myanmar. In contrast, hard copy applications must be submitted within seven working days of arrival. According to the Myanmar Investment Law, a foreign expert is one who qualifies as a senior manager, technical or operational expert, or advisor in permitted or endorsed companies within Myanmar. For assistance with completing the investment data reentry process or filing applications for appointment or resignation of foreign experts or employees, or for further details on any aspect of the Investment Monitoring System under MyInO, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].