The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) plans to tax online sellers who use platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, Food Panda, Grab Food, and Airbnb.
According to a draft revenue regulation released by the BIR, a one percent creditable withholding tax will be imposed on the gross remittances of these online platforms, including remittances and transfers on electronic wallets like GCash and Maya.
The BIR’s move to tax online sellers comes as sales from online platforms continue to grow.
Through the tax, the BIR aims to identify online sellers and ensure they declare their income for tax purposes.
The proposed tax will only apply to half of the gross remittance of online platforms to their partner sellers or merchants, with a cap of one percent or 50 centavos.
The proposed one percent creditable withholding tax will be in addition to the existing withholding tax obligations imposed on online platform providers.
For platforms that do not require their sellers to have a business registration, the tax will be imposed on a single purchase worth P10,000 or more.
If the buyer and seller have had at least six transactions in a year, the tax will be imposed even if the total transactions do not hit P10,000.
Apart from online shopping sites, the BIR also plans to impose the tax on transportation platforms such as Grab, Angkas, and Joyride.
The BIR has released the draft revenue regulation for comment.
