Let pandemic pass before online sellers register businesses with BIR – solon

MANILA, Philippines — House Minority Leader and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. on Tuesday urged to defer the registration of businesses of online sellers with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), saying it was best to conduct it after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has passed.

In a statement, Abante said that requiring online merchants to head to the BIR offices to register, while in the midst of a pandemic, “exposes them to health risks that the government has explicitly and repeatedly urged the public to avoid.”

“Though Metro Manila and several other areas are slowly opening up, we continue to caution our citizens against unnecessarily leaving their homes––which is the right track to pursue if we want to reduce opportunities for transmitting the disease,” Abante said.

The BIR previously directed online sellers to register their businesses and settle their taxes not later by July 31.

The Department of Finance (DOF), of which the BIR is one of the revenue-generating agencies under the DOF, said that the move was not to go after merchants who have unreported sales or unpaid taxes, but rather to encourage them to register with the BIR.

Malacañang also stood by the BIR directive.

Abante raised that many of the sellers turned to online selling “because the dearth of mass transportation options makes it infeasible to commute to work.”

“It seems unreasonable to compel them to travel to BIR offices when there are limited means of transportation,” he said.

“Our citizens are just doing what they can to survive during these extraordinary times, using whatever means they have to make a living. Let us not make their lives difficult, let us try to be more understanding given this difficult period,” he added.