Electronic receipts offer more convenience, with the primary benefit of the potential of saving you money. These e-receipts can also make transactions with customers easier to complete. As such, more businesses are adopting the usage of electronic receipts in their day-to-day operations.
With these electronic receipts taking on greater importance for particular businesses based in the country, the BIR released new, updated rules on how to use electronic receipts and invoices. Knowledge is power so businesses have to know what these are to do proper accounting, bookkeeping, and filing of taxes.
The BIR’s New Rules for Electronic Receipts and Invoices
Updated rules from the BIR state that certain businesses must now issue those electronic receipts or invoices exclusively. The changes to the rules pertaining to electronic receipts are found in the Bureau’s Revenue Regulations No. 8-2022. The aforementioned advisory states that certain taxpayers are now required to issue electronic receipts or invoices instead of the standard manual receipts and invoices.
The taxpayers in question include those engaged in the export of certain goods and services, entrepreneurs running e-commerce businesses, and those categorized under Large Taxpayers Service or LTS. Aside from the new rules regarding the issuance of electronic receipts and invoices, the BIR is also requiring the taxpayers mentioned above to adhere to additional guidelines.
Moving forward, affected taxpayers must now register their computerized accounting system that they use to generate electronic receipts or invoices. They must also register any cash register machines or point-of-sale systems they intend to use. The taxpayers are also required to get their sales data transmission systems certified. These machines will have a sticker from the BIR upon completed inspection.
From there, the affected taxpayers must also use their certified sales data transmission system to transmit their electronic receipt or electronic invoice data. The data will be transmitted to the Electronic Invoicing/Receipting System (EIS) provided by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Additional Guidelines for Affected Taxpayers
The new rules regarding the issuance of electronic receipts and invoices are not the only ones that affected taxpayers should keep in mind. In addition to the updated rules already discussed, the BIR also released more policies and guidelines that will impact the operations of the affected taxpayers.
Learn more about those supplemental guidelines below.
Development of Sales Data Transmission System
Taxpayers identified in the previous section will be required to develop their own Sales Data Transmission System. The system they develop must be based on the Standard Application Programming Interface guidelines, otherwise known as the API guidelines.
Enrollment in the Electronic Invoicing/Receipting System
Before taxpayers start transmitting their electronic official receipt/invoice date to the BIR, they must first enroll in the Electronic Invoicing/Receipting System. Taxpayers are required to enroll in the system to ensure the security of the transactions.
Obtain EIS Certification
Once the taxpayers develop their Sales Data Transmission Systems, they must get them certified by the BIR. Applications for certification should be sent online. The BIR will confirm applications by sending EIS CERTs.
Seek Permit to Transmit
Taxpayers must also seek a Permit to Transmit before they can send their data to the BIR. They will receive the permit after their application is approved.
Timing of Transmissions
The taxpayers covered by the new rules pertaining to electronic receipts and electronic invoices must also be mindful of their timing with regard to the transmission of data. Sales reports for transactions must be done the day after the Permit to Transmit is provided. The transmissions must also be carried out in real-time or near real-time. The data must be transmitted within three calendar days of the transaction date.
Taxpayers who fail to transmit their data to the BIR on time will be levied a penalty.
Required Format
If you are among the taxpayers who are required to transmit electronic receipt or electronic invoice data to the BIR, you must also do so by utilizing a specific file format. The required file format is Java Script Object Notation.
Summary Lists of Purchases and Importations Still Required
The taxpayers who are obligated to transmit their sales data to the BIR using the process detailed above will still be required to provide their summary lists of purchases and importations. However, they will no longer be obligated to submit summary lists of sales.
The Bottom Line
The new rules affecting exporters, e-commerce business owners, and taxpayers classified under the Large Taxpayers Service can be tricky. It may take some time to adjust, especially if the team is used to doing manual receipts and traditional bookkeeping and accounting.
Getting out of your usual comfort zone may result in inefficiencies. For instance, your business operations may slow down because it will take time for you to get the mansions certified and your people trained. Contact us for a 30-minute consultation and let us take care of those important transactions so you can focus fully on your business. Apart from accounting and bookkeeping, our team is a one-stop-shop that also handles business registration services so we can have your machines approved by the BIR in no time.
