Bureau of Internal Revenue
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) directed all distributors and sellers of vape products in the country to comply fully with the business registration requirements and other tax obligations of the government to avoid penalties.
This after the BIR filed criminal charges against people allegedly selling smuggled and untaxed vape products last month.
READ: BIR sues five sellers of allegedly smuggled vape products
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. calls on all vape traders to follow fully the BIR Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 14-2022 and DTI Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 22-16, which were issued to implement pertinent provisions for the Republic Act (RA) No. 11900 or the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act.
The provision reportedly covers the sale or distribution of vape products through internet websites or via e-commerce and/or other similar selling platforms shall only be made by online sellers or distributors registered with the BIR and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) or Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
The BIR said “all e-marketplaces, e-commerce platforms, selling facilities embedded in social media websites/applications, and/or other similar selling platform providers should only allow the sale of vape products on their website or platform by online distributors, merchants, or retailers duly registered with the BIR and/or DTI/SEC/CDA (per Section 4(A) of RR No. 14-2022 and Rule V, Section 3 of DTI DAO No. 22-16).”
For duly-registered distributors, merchants, or retailers of vape products, Lumagui reminds them to post the required government certificates and approvals of the products conspicuously on the landing page of their website and/or selling platform. And that in case of any violations of the said BIR/DTI requirements by the online distributors/sellers, the online selling platform providers should immediately suspend the sale of the vape products in their e-commerce platform.
In addition to the registration requirements, there are also other compliance and administrative requirements laid down in RR No. 14-2022 (— like the registration of brand and variants, affixture of internal revenue stamps for vape products, maintenance of Official Register Books and other records, etc. — that must be strictly followed by the manufacturers or importers of the vape products.
The BIR warned that any violation of these regulations shall be subject to the corresponding penalties under the pertinent provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, and applicable regulations issued by the BIR.
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