The government plans to impose taxes on online vendors and other Netpreneurs, in order to meet its tax collection revenue targets and to level the playing field for all those engaged in business, regardless virtual or brick-and-mortar.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials is scheduled to meet with eBay Philippines, Sulit, Multiply, Ayos Dito and other commercial web sites to discuss tax partnerships with them.
In an interview with the Business World, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said that an online store is still a store and as such should be subject to taxes on its sales. “The sellers must also declare their income and pay income taxes just like everyone else.”
Henares also noted that the online selling community is part of the P300-billion informal sector.
The websites will be held responsible for ensuring their users are registered taxpayers.
Online sellers will be required to register their business with the BIR and thereafter to post these certificates of registration on their web pages in the same way that traditional (offline) businesses are required to display theirs in their store.
They will also be asked to put up an online invoicing facility so that they can issue electronic receipts to their customers, copies of which should be submitted to BIR.
In a later interview, Henares clarified the online businesses that will be affected are only those actively trading, selling and producing goods and services. Individuals who buy and sell second-hand goods online are not covered.
“We’re talking about people who engage in business – people who trade, buy and sell, or who produce and sell (online)… They’re just like any other business except that it is not a physical store but a virtual store,” she said.
Online personalities will also be covered by the BIR’s campaign, with Ms. Henares noting that they often receive payments in exchange for the advertising and promotion products.
“They must declare that income, file income tax returns and pay income taxes,” she stressed.
The BIR’s tax collection target this year is P1.66 trillion. Of this, P521.159 billion has been achieved during the first half of the year.
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