Shift to e-receipts starts in July — BIR

MANILA, Philippines — Large-scale taxpayers,  e-commerce and export firms need to start shifting to the digital issuance of invoices and receipts by July as mandated by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said it would carry out on a pilot basis the e-invoicing, e-receipting and e-sales system (EIS) starting July.

The TRAIN Law, signed by President Duterte in 2017, requires the BIR to identify taxpayers that have to issue e-invoices and e-receipts within five years from the effectivity of the measure.

According to the BIR, firms engaged in e-commerce and export enterprises are required to issue digital copies of receipts and invoices. Also, the tax agency said large-scale taxpayers listed with the Large Taxpayers Service are obliged to adopt the EIS.

In 2019, the Department of Finance tapped the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for a $7.3 million grant to develop the EIS. The government then received financing from KOICA to push through with the pilot implementation of the project on 100 large-scale taxpayers.

In creating the EIS, KOICA commissioned the services of Douzone Consortium, a South Korea-based firm specializing in electronic tax invoice and groupware information security.

The BIR said KOICA donated the equipment and software, particularly peripherals, servers and storage, to the government to make sure it can sustain the EIS in the long term.

Likewise, KOICA turned over 270 desktops, 130 laptops and 130 printers to the BIR  to transition to the electronic issuance of sales documents.

The EIS, as a web-based system that can be accessed through a URL, hosts three portals: EIS Taxpayer Portal, EIS Certification Portal and EIS Portal for Revenue Officers. Taxpayers can use the platform to issue e-invoices and e-receipts to their customers.

Similarly, they can store in the EIS the required data on seller/buyer information, sales amount, price discounts, among others, to be transmitted to the BIR. The BIR hopes that the system will provide reliable data to be used by revenue officers for their tax assessment.

Once in full swing, the EIS will form part of the BIR’s digital transformation program that intends to cut the cost of taxpayer transactions, such as on invoices and receipts.

The BIR widened the coverage of its electronic channels to 4.63 million business taxpayers last year, from 4.41 million in 2020, as it speeds up efforts to shift its procedures to the digital space.