DOF orders BIR to track, tax online sales

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is putting up a dedicated unit that will track digital sales transactions and capture the correct taxes due from these goods and services.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said that Secretary Carlos Dominguez III recently ordered the BIR to not only establish a dedicated arm tracking taxpayers’ online sales but also learn from its foreign counterparts how such transactions were being taxed efficiently overseas.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay told Dominguez that the BIR’s national investigation division was looking into initially setting up a task force to monitor online sales.

“The BIR should consult with their counterparts in Russia or South Korea to find out how to properly and effectively tax digital transactions. We have to catch up with these guys,” Dominguez told Dulay, referring to online sellers who flourished amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to social distancing measures.

The DOF earlier reported that 2,282 online-based businesses—retailers and services providers alike—had already registered to pay their correct tax dues to the BIR. INQ