PH eyes Korean grant for BIR project
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2019 16:13:41 +0000
The Philippines could seek South Korean funding to implement the initial phase of the tax bureau’s electronic invoicing project, the Finance department said.
“The Philippines is eyeing a $7.3-million grant from Koica (Korea International Cooperation Agency) for the implementation of Phase 1 of the e-invoicing project,” the department said in a statement on Sunday.
It noted that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), in cooperation with Koica, was preparing a feasibility study for the implementation of the Electronic Receipt, Invoice and Sales Reporting System mandated under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (Train).
Under the Train law, large taxpayers and exporters are required within the next five years to electronically issue invoices/receipts as well as report sales data to the BIR at the point of sale.
BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa was quoted having told Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd that a Koica team had visited last year to gather data in preparation for the feasibility study.
Guballa also said that the BIR had already identified the list of 100 pilot taxpayers that would take part in the project, and also staged a consultative forum with stakeholders last year.
“The review of the final report and the terms of reference of the Asian Development Bank-funded consultants is now ongoing for the e-invoicing project,” he added.
Dominguez has said that the implementation of an e-invoicing system would improve tax collections, noting that it would be “more efficient to follow an electronic rather than a paper trail.”
The BIR recently said it netted P1.961 trillion last year, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier but short of the P2.043-trillion goal.
It is expected to collect P2.339 trillion this year.
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