Philippines

Proposal of introducing VAT on e-services for non-resident companies The Philippines House of Representatives is proposing to introduce VAT on non-resident companies’ supplies of electronic services in an effort to reduce unfair competition between non-resident and resident companies. Currently, foreign businesses that provide digital services to consumers in the Philippines are not subject to VAT. The House of Representatives propose to apply VAT at 12% to a wide range of electronic services, including streaming games, music, apps, films, e-books, and e-journals.

Proposal of exempting VAT from basic goods In a recent bill (House Bill-5504), the House of Representatives urged the government to exempt basic goods from VAT, including bread, raw and refined sugar, canned goods, instant noodles, biscuits, cooking oil, salt, laundry detergents, firewood and charcoal, candles, and drugs labelled “essential” by the Health Department.    HB 5504 aims to ease the economic burden of rising prices and a falling peso for ordinary Filipinos.  As lead representative of this bill, Arlene Brosas, Assistant Minority Leader, pointed out that: “Removing the 12-percent VAT on basic goods consumed by poor families on a regular basis will dramatically ease their economic suffering amid skyrocketing prices, massive joblessness, and depressed wages”.    Additionally, she noted that the revenues lost under the proposed VAT exemption could easily be recouped by imposing a wealth tax on the wealthiest Filipinos.  

Go-live of e-invoicing pilot for 100 large taxpayers

The implementation of e-invoicing in the Philippines has now gone live as planned on 1st July 2022. Initially, the mandate will cover 100 large taxpayers selected by BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) including:  

1. Taxpayers engaged in the export of goods and services.  

1. Taxpayers engaged in electronic commerce (e-commerce);  

1. Taxpayers under the Large Taxpayers Service (LTS). 

As of 1st July 2022, selected taxpayers are legally required to issue e-invoices/e-receipts and transmit them to the EIS portal in real time, or within 3 days from the date of the transaction. The document must be transmitted in the format of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). In the event that sales data are delayed, late, or not transmitted to ElS, a penalty shall be imposed.  To issue/transmit sales data, taxpayers must develop a Sales Data Transmission System and obtain certification from BIR. A Permit to Transmit (PTT) must also be applied by the taxpayer before the ElS can receive sales data.  BIR expects to gradually roll out the mandate to all taxpayers in 2023. In the meantime, taxpayers who are not covered by the mandate yet may opt to use electronic receipts or sales/commercial invoices in lieu of manual receipts and invoices.  

200 more medicines exempted from VAT Further 200 medicines will be exempt from VAT following the approval of Revenue Memorandum Circular 68-2022 by BIR. These medicines are utilized for the treatment of hypertension, cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis, kidney disease, diabetes and high cholesterol, in addition to other COVID-related medicines and medical devices. The BIR has published the full list of exempted medicines on its official website.

Change in permit to use CAS

Simplified Policies on the Application for Registration of Computerized Accounting System (CAS) have been introduced under Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 05-2021.

There is no longer a requirement for taxpayers intending to use a CAS to obtain a PTU (Permit To Use). Taxpayers can receive an Acknowledgement Certificate” from the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) if all their documentation requirements are met. Pre-evaluation or demonstration of the system is no longer required but will be subject to post-evaluation by the concerned Revenue District Office.

All taxpayers with existing Permit To Use CAS are not required to apply for registration, the approved PTU previously issued by the Bureau will still be valid except for special circumstances.

Postponement of e-invoicing pilot project

According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the go-live of the pilot project for the e-invoicing system (EIS) has been postponed from 1 January 2022 to 1 July 2022. From 1 July 2022, the selected 100 large taxpayers must transmit invoice data to BIR in production. The EIS system supports the Comprehensive Tax reform Programme (CTRP), which was established by the Ministry of Finance. CTRP aims to digitise the tax and administrative systems in the country.

The EIS is a so-called Continuous Transaction Control (CTC); invoices need to be reported to the Government Platform after these have been shared with buyers. This centralised government platform was developed with the support of the South Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and it is therefore not surprising that the EIS platform strongly resembles the South Korean e-Tax system. The scope of the requirements includes sales invoices, debit- and credit notes, receipts and other accounting documents.

Update on pilot project

Philippines is moving towards an e-invoicing system by 2023.
According to recent reports, the pilot project will be launched in January 2022 in preparation for its phased roll-out of their e-invoicing system in 2023. At this stage, corporations falling under the large taxpayers classification and exporters are selected for the pilot project as they have a computerised accounting system which is needed for e-invoicing and e-receipts.

Unilever and Tungsten obtain CAS usage permit in the Philippines

After several years of collaboration, we can officially announce that a usage permit between Unilever and Tungsten was finally granted in early January 2020.