BIR monitoring online sellers
DAVAO CITY (PIA) -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) - Revenue District Office 113-A West is monitoring online sellers, particularly those whose places of residence fall under its jurisdiction.
“We are checking online these sellers are still active. sa FB (Facebook) and “We are checking online records of the DTI (Department on Facebook, Shopee, of Trade and Industry) Lazada, and Tiktok. If ever gina-compile namin,” we see them, we urge them said revenue officer Datu to register,” he said. Yusoph Amad during the He stressed that presently, recent Kapehan sa SM. the group is still in
According to him, the process of online monitoring, there is a team at the BIR and no formal notitasked with inspections as fications have been issued to the activities of the online yet to the online shops. sellers. Amad said the The BIR is urging online monitoring group is also sellers to register their assisted by other revenue businesses with the bureau, officers, particularly those which can be done manually registered at the DTI; they by visiting the respecwould regularly check if tive revenue district offices or through the web with the NewBizReg online portal.
“We hope the online sellers will know that there is a team tasked with monitoring online and that they are required to register their business sa BIR maski online seller sila (even if they are online sellers),” said Revenue Officer III Ace Madrianda.
Unregistered online shops could face penalties for violations such as failure to register and nonissuance of receipts, among other penalties.
“If ever naka monitor kami and merong mission order na i-check yung mga sales and hindi po siya registered, ma-impose po siya penalties. For violations, let’s say, ang sales nila mahulog sobra 30 percent wala gi-declare, yun pwede siya fraud. And resibo maski online sellers dapat meron tayo copy of receipts, if ever wala siyang resibo, walang details kung kanina nya gibenta yan po non-issuance of receipts (If we ever monitor and there is a mission order to check the sales and it is not registered, we will impose penalties. For violations if more than 30% of the sales were not declared, it can be considered as fraud. Even online sellers should have copy of receipts. If there are no receipts, there are no details where the item is sold, then that is non-issuance of receipts),” Amad said.
RR 16-2023
Meanwhile, on Dec. 21, 2023, the BIR issued Revenue Regulation 162023, which subjects online sellers earning more than P500,000 annually to a one percent withholding tax.
According to Revenue Regulation 16-2023, which took effect on January 5, 2024, the withholding tax will apply to one-half of the gross remittances by electronic marketplace operators and digital financial services providers to the sellers or merchants for the goods or services sold through their platform.
This means that apps or website platforms like Shopee, Lazada, Foodpanda, Grab, etc. will have to withhold 1 percent of half of the gross remittances sent to their merchants, partner drivers, or online sellers.
The new BIR measure is meant to improve tax collection and encourage more online small and mediumsized businesses to register.