A House leader on Wednesday urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue to defer the enforcement of its memorandum circular requiring online sellers to register their business and pay income and other taxes.
In filing House Resolution 994, Quezon City Rep. Precious Castelo urges the House of Representatives to express its collective sense to urge the BIR to defer the implementation of its Revenue Memorandum Circular 60-2020.
“It is undeniable that community quarantine restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic have incidentally caused an e-commerce boom, as many businesses have shifted from traditional or face-to-face selling to online or digital selling."
Castelo, assistant majority leader, said aside from established businesses, the pandemic has given rise to a new breed of thousands of small entrepreneurs—residents of subdivisions who cater to their neighbors, their community and nearby villages.
“They offer to sell and delivery anything their communities need, from eggs, meat, bread, vegetables, rice, disinfectant, face masks, other medical supplies and food products, to ultra-violet lamps. They even sell furniture, office equipment and school supplies,” she said.
Castelo said that such online businesses are flourishing because people are afraid to go out of their homes for fear of getting infected by the coronavirus.
“Because of Covid-19, there was and there is still is a great demand for food and other products delivered to your doorsteps. Neighborhood entrepreneurs are filling such demand,” Castelo said.
“In fact, it is these community sellers who started catering to people who chose to stay home. The established businesses like restaurants and fast-food chains are just starting to catch up,” she said.
She pointed out that unfortunately for the enterprising village sellers, the taxman took notice of their business. “Many of these people are workers who lost their jobs due to quarantine restrictions. I think that they are not really making money. They are just trying to make both ends meet. There is thus strong opposition to the move of the BIR to get them registered and to tax them."