Philippines requires all online sellers to issue registered e-invoices

The Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) plans to require all online sellers to issue electronic receipts or invoices before the end of this year. Under the rules, online sellers must be registered with the BIR. And their electronic invoices must also be registered either directly to BIR or to a third-party accredited by the BIR.

“Their businesses should be registered to us, and they (online sellers) should be paying the corresponding taxes. Otherwise, we will run after them,” said BIR Commissioner Kim Henares.

The need for registered e-invoicing for online shops

There are a lot of businesses in the Philippines that prefer to operate online nowadays. Traders and sellers usually conduct their transactions through buy-and-sell websites such as sulit.com.ph, ayosdito.ph, and ebay.ph, or sometimes through their own websites.

According to online sellers, the advantage of having a business on the internet is that you don’t need an actual store which will add up to operational expenses.

An online business also has a larger reach since anyone who’s on the internet can access and buy the items being sold. Sellers can also accommodate their customers at any time of the day.

Lately, more and more online sellers operate their businesses through social networking sites such as multiply.com and facebook.com, which allows them to reach an even larger market.

To make sure that the VAT revenues from these increasing forms of sales fall to the state the BIR decided to require online shops and their e-invoices to become registered.

No changes in legislation

Henares said that the agency does not need to issue a revenue regulation to require online sellers to issue receipts and/or invoices since the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) already states that for each sale or for services valued at P25 or more, receipts must be issued: “The electronic invoicing could be availed through a third party, but such third party shall be accredited by the BIR. Meaning, private parties could participate and get the necessary accreditation from us.”