Income
Tax in Mongolia
Individual
Income Tax
According to the
Personal Income Tax Law, a taxpayer is defined as “A citizen of Mongolia,
foreign citizens and stateless persons residing in Mongolia who are responsible
for payment of tax in accordance with law for their earned taxable income for
the tax year or even when no income is earned.”
Taxpayers are further
classified as “resident” and “non-resident” taxpayers.
A foreign individual is
considered as Mongolian tax resident if he or she resides in Mongolia for 183
or more days in a tax year or owns a residence in Mongolia. Above days are
calculated based on the number of days of a calendar year from the day of entry
into Mongolia and in case of multiple entries, it will be determined based on
the total days of stays in Mongolia.
A foreign individual is
considered as a non-resident taxpayer in Mongolia if he or she has no residence
in Mongolia and has not stayed in Mongolia for 183 or more days in a tax year.
Taxes
on Personal Income:
A permanent resident
taxpayer of Mongolia is subject to tax on worldwide income.
A non-resident taxpayer
of Mongolia is subject to tax on the income earned in the territory of Mongolia
during the tax year.
Personal
income tax rates:
The current PIT rates
are as follows:
Sources of
income
|
Applicable tax
rate (%)
|
Salary
income
|
10
|
Income
from property (i.e. dividends, royalties, interest, capital gain from sale of
securities/stocks)
|
10
|
Sale
of immovable property (gross)
|
2
|
Income
from scientific, literary, and artistic works, inventions, product designs,
and useful designs (gross); income from sports competitions, art
performances, and similar income (gross)
|
5
|
Income
from betting games, gambling, and lotteries (gross)
|
40
|
Income
determination
Employment
income:
Employee gross income
consists of all direct and indirect income received through employment or
related activities during a calendar year and includes both taxed and untaxed
income at the source of payment.
Capital
gains:
Gross income from the
sale of immovable property is taxed at a rate of 2%. Income from the sale of
movable property, including securities, is taxed on a net basis at a rate of
10%.
Dividend
and interest income:
Dividend and interest
income earned by individuals is subject to withholding tax (WHT) at the rate of
10%.
Individual
– Deductions
Employment
expenses:
There are no business
deductions allowed for employees, except for a social insurance contribution
made by an employee per Social Insurance Law of Mongolia.
Personal
deductions:
There are no deductions
for non-business expenses in Mongolia. However, starting from May 2014,
donations made for the purpose of rehabilitation of national cultural heritage
can be deducted from taxable income.
Standard
deductions:
The most notable
allowance is a general deduction of the minimum monthly wage of MNT 84,000 per annum.
Business
deductions:
An individual may claim
business deductions if registered as an entrepreneur.
Individual
- Tax administration
Tax
returns and payments:
In general, if an
employee (local or expatriate) receives employment income from a Mongolian employer,
the responsibility for reporting, withholding, and payment lies with that
employer. If an employee receives other income (e.g. income from the sale of
shares) or if there is no Mongolian employer, the responsibility for reporting,
withholding, and payment lies with the employee.
The tax agent (i.e.
employer) should transfer the tax withheld from a taxpayer’s income to the
budget by the tenth day of the following month.
Furthermore, a tax
agent should submit a quarter-to-date report of tax withheld by the 20th day of
the first month of the following quarter and year-to-date tax report by 15
February of the following year to the corresponding tax authority.
Income should be
reported on an individual tax form and submitted to the tax authority by 15
February of the following year.
Corporate
- Taxes on corporate income:
Mongolian resident
economic entities are taxable on aggregate annual income earned worldwide.
Non-resident economic entities carrying out business activities in Mongolia are
taxable on the income earned in the territory of Mongolia and from Mongolian
sources.
Mongolian corporate
income tax (CIT) is levied at the following rates, using a progressive-rate
scale that ranges from 10% to 25%, as follows:
·
10% applies to the first MNT 3 billion
of annual taxable income.
·
25% applies to any excess of MNT 3
billion of annual taxable income.
However, the income
described in the chart below is excluded when determining the annual taxable
income and is taxed at different tax rates on a gross basis:
Source of
income
|
Applicable tax
rate (%)
|
Dividends
|
10
|
Royalties
|
10
|
Interest
|
10
|
Gambling,
betting games, and lotteries (net)
|
40
|
Sale
of immovable property
|
2
|
Sale
of rights (e.g. mining licences, special activity licences, and other rights
granted by the authorised organisations for conducting specific activities)
|
30
|
"Ultimate
Holder"
With the introduction
of the amendment to the General Taxation Law of Mongolia, a concept of an
“ultimate holder” of a legal entity is newly introduced for tax purposes.
Any change of ultimate holders of a legal
entity, which maintains a mining license or land use (or possess) right is
deemed as a sale of its land right or mining license and subject to a 30%
Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”). Importantly, a tax obligation is imposed on the
legal entity holding such Rights, but not the person who earns the income from
the transaction.
“Ultimate holders” refer to the following
types of persons who exercise control over management and assets of a legal
entity directly or indirectly with a chain of ownership at one or more levels
of legal entities through a number of shares, percentage of participation or a
number of voting rights:
·
holding a majority of voting rights of a
legal entity;
·
holding a majority number of shares or
shares with the highest market value of a legal entity;
·
similar others.
Assessing
taxable Income:
In general, a taxable
income shall be assessed based on the value of Rights pro-rated to the number
of shares or percentage of participation which are transferred from a
Right-holding entity, or its ultimate holders. For the purpose of certainty,
the Ministry of Finance passed the Decrees № 379 and 380, dated December 25,
2017, which set the following methodologies to assess taxable income:
·
Methodology to assess and impose taxes
on income from sales of the right to use or possess land (Decree №379)
·
Methodology to determine the value of
mining licenses and assess taxes on income from transfer of mining licenses
(Decree №380).
Penalties:
Breach of the above- mentioned legislative
requirements (including failure to comply with requirements for assessing taxes,
reporting and/or concealing relevant documents and information and providing
false documentation for tax purposes) shall be subject to cancellation of the
respective Rights (a mining license and/or the respective right to use or
possess land).
Corporate
- Income determination
Inventory
valuation:
There is no specific
provision in the tax law for inventory valuation.
Capital
gains:
Capital and ordinary
transactions are treated in the same way for tax purposes (i.e. included in
annual taxable income). An exception is provided for income from sales of
immovable property, which is subject to tax of 2% on gross sales proceeds.
Taxation of capital
gains of non-residents is not clear. The CIT Law could be interpreted in a way
that the net gain from disposal of shares in a Mongolian company should be
subject to CIT. However, since there is no mechanism in practice for
non-resident companies to declare income in Mongolia and show the basis for the
taxable gain, only withholding tax (WHT) (20% on the gross payment) charged at
source of payment is available. No mechanism for taxation of capital gains
currently exists if the transaction takes place between two non-residents that
have no taxable presence in Mongolia.
Dividend
income:
Dividend income earned
by a Mongolian resident entity is subject to WHT of 10%. Dividend income to be
remitted out of the country to a foreign tax resident is subject to WHT at 20%
but may be reduced by an applicable DTT.
Interest
income:
Interest income is
subject to a special income tax of 10%. Interest income to be remitted out of
the country to a foreign tax resident is subject to WHT at 20% but may be reduced
by an applicable DTT.
Rental
income:
Rental income is
included in taxable income for tax determination.
Royalty
income:
Royalty income is taxed
at a special rate of 10%. Royalty income to be remitted out of the country to a
foreign tax resident is subject to WHT at 20% but may be reduced by an
applicable DTT.
Partnership
income:
There is no transparent
partnership concept in Mongolia. Partnership income is treated as income of a
legal entity and is subject to CIT.
Unrealised
currency exchange gains/losses:
Unrealised currency
exchange gains are not considered as taxable income, and, at the same time,
unrealised losses are not deductible from taxable income.
Foreign
income:
Mongolian legal
entities pay tax on their worldwide income. Unremitted earnings are taxed the
same as ordinary earnings.
Credit relief is
available with respect to foreign tax on income arising from countries that
have DTTs with Mongolia, capped at the level of Mongolian tax that would have
been due on the same income in Mongolia.
Corporate
residence:
A resident legal entity
is an economic entity formed under the laws of Mongolia or a foreign economic
entity that has its place of management in Mongolia. There has not been further
development of this concept, so it cannot be assumed that the standard place of
effective management or control test will apply.
A non-resident company
is a foreign economic entity that conducts its business in Mongolia and earns
income from Mongolian sources.
Permanent
establishment (PE):
Although there is a theoretical
possibility to establish a branch of a foreign entity in Mongolia, it is
currently not practically possible due to uncertainties in the law related to
the legal status of such entity, filing procedures, etc.
It is also possible to
register a PE in Mongolia with the tax authorities, although neither the legal
status nor respective taxation rules are clear. According to the draft law on
CIT, which is under Parliament discussion at this moment, PEs can be created in
Mongolia only by non-residents from those countries that have double tax
treaties (DTTs) with Mongolia.
Corporate
- Tax administration
Taxable
period:
The tax year is the
calendar year.
Tax
returns:
Companies must submit a
quarterly return by the 20th day of the month following the end of each quarter
and an annual return by 10 February after the end of the tax year.
A withholder must
prepare and submit a quarterly return of the tax deducted by the 20th day of
the first month of the following quarter and an annual return by 10 February
after the end of the tax year.
Payment
of tax:
A taxpayer shall pay
the taxes due in advance by the 25th day of each month in accordance with the
payment schedule based on the previous year. Year-end settlement is made by 10
February of the following year (along with the annual tax statement).
In practice, the
Mongolian tax authorities allow concessions as follows:
Where total tax paid
exceeds the tax liability, the excess may be credited against other taxes due
or credited against future tax payments. The overpayment also may,
theoretically, be refunded; however, the practice of refunding in Mongolia is
not clear or consistent.
An economic entity or
organisation that has withheld tax from a payment of dividends, royalties, sale
of rights, or a payment of income to a taxpayer should transfer the WHT to the
tax authorities within seven working days. Tax withheld relating to the sale of
immovable property should be transferred to the tax authorities within ten
working days.
Tax
audit process:
The tax audit cycle is
not clearly stated in the tax laws. However, the regular cycle in Mongolia is
three to five years in practice, and it is very common if the company requests
a refund from tax authorities or liquidates its company. Moreover, a tax audit
can come anytime if the tax authorities suspect some risk or misuse of the
legislation or receive information from a trustworthy source about tax evasion.
Statute
of limitations:
The statute of
limitations in Mongolia is five years for tax arrears, fines, and penalties.
However, the dispute settlement timeframe shall not pertain to payment of tax,
fine, and penalty debts.
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Note:
Information
placed here in above is only for general perception. This may not reflect the
latest status on law and may have changed in recent time. Please seek our
professional opinion before applying the provision. Thanks.
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