BIR extends accreditation of manually-printed receipts

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue has extended the provisional accreditation of printers of manually printed receipts and invoices up to Feb. 28.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said the additional time should allow the National/Regional Accreditation Board to conduct on-site inspection of the applicant firms.

 â€œSeveral deemed accredited printers issued with provisional accreditation numbers were not yet evaluated by the N/RAB for the issuance of their permanent/final certificate of accreditation by the BIR,” Henares said.

Henares also pointed out that only few Revenue District Offices were able to conduct the required post-evaluation ocular inspection for the issuance of the final certificate of accreditation prior to the expiration of the validity of provisional accreditation.  This despite the extension earlier granted by the BIR last year.

Non-compliance either by the taxpayer or concerned BIR personnel will be subject to penalties/sanctions in accordance with the tax code, Henares said.

The BIR has been clamping down on unauthorized printers of receipts/invoices, which are used as conduits for tax evasion.

The BIR issued a ruling requiring enterprises and individual businessmen in the country to use new receipts produced only by accredited printers by Sept. 1,  2013.

The move was meant to address the leakage in revenue collection due to the proliferation of fraudulent receipts as well as curb smuggling.

Taxpayers caught using old receipts will be meted a fine of up to P50,000 for the first offense and closure of business or filing of tax evasion charges for subsequent violations.  Business owners may face imprisonment of up to four years.

The BIR noted that several commercial establishments use receipts that are not issued by accredited printers to underdeclare sales or earnings.