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The Government of Lao PDR issued the Agreement No.31, dated on 2 April 2020, on policies and measures to be implemented to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Lao Economy. Please see the  following list of the main policies and measures:

1. Tax exemption on Personal Income Tax for both Government and private sector workforce any salary inferior to 5 million kips for a period of 3 months (April, May and June 2020).

2. Tax exemption on Income Tax for micro enterprises for a period of 3 months (April, May, June 2020) as defined in the article 29 point 2 of Income Tax Law No. 67, issued on 18th June 2019

3. Exemption of Customs duties and related fees on imports of goods to be used for the prevention against the outbreak of COVID-19 such as masks, hand gel, medical equipment and other necessary and other necessary items. Ministry of Industry and Commerce together with the Ministry of Health shall prepare a thorough list of those necessary goods, to be imported Tax and Duty free. The list shall be sent to the Ministry of Finance as a reference for implementation.

4. Tax exemption for businesses operating in the Tourism sector for a period of 3 months, starting in April 2020. The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism to be the focal point and work with relevant parties to define the list of the entitled businesses.

5. Extension of deadline for the submission of financial reporting for the year of 2019, from 31 March 2020 to the 30 April 2020.

6. Extension of deadline for the payment of Road tax, from 31 March 2020 to 30 June 2020.

7. Discussion on possibility to reduce and defer payment for electricity and water supply bills for households and businesses.

8. Agreement for BOL to reduce its base interest and minimum reserves of private bank based on situation of each period.

9. Agreement for BOL to instruct private banking to implement policy on loan to cope with the COVID-19 impacts such as: deferment of payment of principal and interest, adjustment of interest, new loan offers to businesses, debt restructuration, as stated in BOL Decision No.238/BoL dated on 26 March 2020

10. Deferment of payment for social security for businesses affected by COVID-19 for a period of 3 months (April, May, June).

 

You can download the official document in Lao: Decision No.31/PM 2nd Apr 2020 - Lao version

Or the translation in English: Decision No.31/PM 2nd Apr 2020 - Eng version