The Philippine government is targeting to roll out the electronic invoicing and receipting system by January next year, as part of its digital transformation in tax administration to provide convenient and transparent service to taxpayers.

“Thus, moving to e-invoicing or e-receipting is no longer an option for our large taxpayers, exporters and those (engaged in) e-commerce. Take note it has become mandatory and the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) mandate is to implement it within five years or until next year, 2022,” Lanee David, deputy commissioner of BIR Information Systems Group, said in a webinar.

David said under Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017, the BIR shall require these taxpayers to issue electronic receipts or invoices in lieu of manual ones within five years from its effectivity.

She said 100 pilot taxpayers will participate in the rollout of electronic invoicing and receipting system next year.

BIR Client Support Service assistant commissioner Teresita Angeles said “those covered under the 100 taxpayers, they are required to issue invoice as well as transmit the data. They may provide for a facility for the printing of the hard copies if the buyer or the purchaser doesn’t have the facility to receive the e-invoice so we have to also consider the other party.”

Angeles said other taxpayers, including small businesses, will be covered after pilot implementation of e-receipts among 100 taxpayers.

David said the BIR and its consulting partner will continue the development and testing of the e-invoicing system towards the end of 2021, while preparing the pilot taxpayers for the adoption of the e-invoicing process.

David said that with the help of the Korean government through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the electronic invoicing and receipting system is now under development by Douzone consortium, a Korean technical solutions provider.

The BIR team working on the e-invoicing system will also work to enhance people’s knowledge and skills concerning e-invoicing through capacity building programs and other training endeavors as the agency prepares for the necessary revenue issuances and process reengineering, she said.

In 2022, David said the sustainability of the electronic invoicing/receipting system (EIS) will be performed while planning for the expansion of the target taxpayers and the system’s infrastructure.

“Our medium term plan is to stabilize the infrastructure for a robust e-invoicing system. Implementation of EIS is just eight months from now and there is indeed much to be done, and I hope the BIR can rely on all of you for support as we commit ourselves to this very important undertaking. There is no doubt that e-invoicing is the future of the economy and of course of the taxation itself,” she added.

Jae-Jin Kim, senior fellow at Korea Institute of Public Finance, said EIS is currently in progress and will be completed by 2021 as a KOICA project.

Kim said EIS consists of an external portal for taxpayers and an internal portal for BIR officials. External portal is divided into EIS accreditation and invoice/receipt issuing system.

He said EIS is expected to reduce the costs associated with issuing, delivering and storing invoices/receipts; the data gets stored as an electronic document in BIR and prevents from loss/damage of invoice/receipt; increase productivity on invoice issuance and its management; and increase the convenience during value-added (VAT) filing.

“Sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic had boosted cashless economy and e-commerce platforms, thereby augmenting the demand for e-invoicing implementation,” he added.