By Mu Dra - Jul 28, 2025
Workers at Myanmar LNY CAPS Co., Ltd (headwear factory), located on Plot No. –, Malikha Road, Shwe Than Lwin Industrial Zone, Hlaingtharyar Township, say income tax has started being deducted from their wages without clear explanation, and they are asking the factory to make an official and transparent announcement regarding the deductions.
Myanmar LNY CAPS Co., Ltd is a Chinese citizen-owned factory employing over 800 workers and manufacturing American brands such as 47 CLEAN UP, FITCAP, OTTO, and CAPAMERICA.
Workers said the factory began deducting income tax from their salaries in June 2025 without providing any clear explanation, and in addition to that, former benefits such as basic food supplies have been discontinued. Workers are currently working three hours of overtime every day.
“Our working hours are from 8:00 AM to 7:30 PM, with 3 hours of overtime included. It used to be only until 6:30 PM. But now we’re working until midnight for overtime. We are still made to work nonstop even on public holidays like Martyrs’ Day and Sundays,” workers said.
Workers reported that the income tax deductions were 10,000 kyats, 5,000 kyats, and below 5,000 kyats per person, and that deductions were applied across both factory-1 and factory-2 workers.
According to the announcement by the Ministry of Planning and Finance and the Internal Revenue Department, income tax is only applicable when annual income exceeds 4.8 million kyats. Taxable income must also deduct basic exemptions such as dependent parents, spouse, children, life insurance premiums, and social security contributions.
“What we actually earn is 4,800 kyats in daily wage, 2,000 kyats in subsidies. Attendance and skill bonuses are only paid if we work full days. The base salary is 144,800 kyats. Because we’re forced into excessive overtime, we sometimes reach 400,000 to 500,000 kyats, and then they deduct income tax. But the factory doesn’t explain clearly. When we ask, they don’t know how to explain either,” said a worker.
In the past, Myanmar LNY CAPS Co., Ltd provided food supplies such as rice, edible oil, and salt to workers. That has now been replaced with cooked meals. However, poor hygiene in the meal preparation has reportedly led to cases of food poisoning requiring medical attention.
Workers have filed complaints with the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) due to these losses in the workplace.
The workers’ demands are:
- The factory must issue a clear and transparent announcement about income tax deductions.
- The factory to return to providing rice, edible oil, and salt instead of cooked meals.
- Overtime must be limited to regular hours until 6:30 PM, and public holidays must be properly observed as off days.
