S. Korea helps boost local tax-collection processes
THE Embassy of the Republic of Korea has just announced that the state-of-the-art data center for the Philippines’s Electronic Invoicing System (EIS), which is being supported by the former’s government, opened on June 13 at the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) Headquarters in Quezon City.
Ambassador Kim Inchul joined the opening ceremony with BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay, as well as Finance Undersecretaries Antonette Tionko and Mark Dennis Joven.
The Korean government, through the Korean International Cooperation Agency’s (KOICA) $7.3-million pilot project, successfully completed developing the EIS, which includes the integrated tax database for all kinds of taxpayers’ transactions, invoice data reception for 100 largescale taxpayers, e-invoicing and receipting system, Bir-hosted invoicing, e-sales reporting system, and a value-added tax-refund facility.
This digital invoice-reporting system, according to the embassy, will serve 100 Philippine corporations, including Pilipinas Shell, Procter & Gamble, San Miguel Corp., SC Johnson, and SM Retails.
The project also provided BIR officials and the staff from the said businesses with a series of capacitybuilding workshops that will assist the said 100 firms to undergo a smoother transition to the digital issuance and management of sales documents, such as invoices and receipts.
Along with the system and workshops, KOICA provided software and tools with a database-management system, servers, peripherals, storage, 270 desktops, 130 laptops and 130 printers to help the BIR sustain the EIS in the long run.
The EIS installation will be an excellent start in the process of implementing the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which requires Filipino firms engaged in e-commerce and exports to issue digital invoices and receipts.
South Korea, with both financial resources and technical expertise, will continue to support the Philippine government’s plan to expand the coverage of the EIS nationwide as part of its efforts for the TRAIN Law’s full implementation.
The Korea Export-import Bank, using Korea’s official development assistance’s concessional loan facility, will contribute about $55 million to expand the EIS to cater to 1 million Filipino firms—including 3,000 large-scale firms.
The system will help the BIR improve tax administration, which will lead to better revenue collection while assisting Filipino businesses—particularly micro, small and medium enterprises—in streamlining business processes and maximizing usability of sales information.
The Korean Embassy believes its country’s continued assistance in building and expanding the EIS will aid the Philippines address issues on compliance and transparency of business transactions, as well as contribute to improving taxpayer services and by doing so, build stronger trust of businesses on tax administration.