BIR to test e-receipt system

The issuance of e-receipts will be piloted next year among 100 taxpayers selected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) ahead of its mandatory implementation, an official of the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

The testing stage of the e-receipts system is currently ongoing, while the BIR and the DOF are in close coordination with consultants from Manila-based multilateral lender Asian Development Bank to prepare the infrastructure to be used as the program’s terms of reference.

Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II said this in a House ways and means committee hearing last week, which tackled the first year of implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.

The Cabinet-level, interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) last year cut its projected revenue gain from the TRAIN law for 2018 to P63.3 billion from P89.9 billion due to the delayed application of of e-receipts and fuel marking schemes.

Lambino said the South Korean government’s aid arm, Korea International Cooperation Agency, would grant $5-$10 million for the program pilot.

With the funding, e-receipts will be piloted in 2020, while full implementation starts “thereafter,” Lambino said.

Meanwhile, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, or Korea Eximbank, will provide a loan to fully implement the system, he added. —BEN O. DE VERA