BIR: e-commerce businesses must issue e-invoices
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Taxpayers engaged in electronic commerce must issue electronic invoices, according to a new Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) regulation.

The BIR also required e-commerce businesses to set up an electronic sales reporting system to transmit their sales data to the tax collector.

Revenue Regulation (RR) No. 11-2025 implements sections 237 and 237-A of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (Tax Code), as amended by the CREATE MORE Act, on the issuance of electronic invoices, and electronic sales reporting.

It also covers availment of additional allowable deduction for the cost of setting up an electronic sales reporting system.

The new RR was dated on February 25, 2025.

It mandates taxpayers engaged in e-commerce or internet transactions to issue electronic invoices “in a structured invoice data which can be easily extracted electronically from the invoice and can be readily transmitted to the BIR for electronic sales reporting.”

The order defines “taxpayers engaged in e-commerce” as persons – whether natural or juridical – who are engaged in the following trade or business in the country:

  • E-commerce or online business, whether formal or informal, including sale, procurement, or availment of physical or digital goods, digital content/products, digital financial services, entertainment services, social commerce, on-demand labor and repair services, and property and space rentals;

  • Operation of digital platforms, including e-marketplace platforms;

  • Sale and/or lease of goods and services through digital platforms;

  • Digital content creation and streaming that are income generating;

  • E-retailing of goods and services;

  • Sale of creative or professional services, on-demand or freelance services or digital services supplied over the internet;

  • On-demand services over the internet, available whenever a customer requests them, such as ride-sharing, food delivery, grocery delivery, home services and streaming entertainment; and,

  • Transport and delivery services contracted through an online platform, application, website, webpage or other similar platform

E-commerce players are also ordered to comply with the electronic sales reporting requirement of the BIR, which should be undertaken once the agency establishes a system for storing and processing the required data for transmission.

It is not only e-commerce players who are mandated to issue electronic invoices and report their sales.

RR 011-2025 also covers taxpayers under the jurisdiction of the Large Taxpayers Service; taxpayers classified as Large Taxpayers; and taxpayers using Computerized Accounting System and Computerized Books of Accounts with Accounting Records and other invoicing software.

Also covered by the new requirements—once the BIR’s system for storing and processing the required data to be transmitted is ready—are the following:

  •  Taxpayers engaged in the export of goods and services;

  •  Registered business enterprises availing of tax incentives;

  •  Taxpayers using Point-of-Sales (POS) System; and,

  •  Other taxpayers as may be required by the Commissioner

Upon the establishment of a system capable of storing and processing the required data by the BIR, all taxpayers covered must comply with the issuance of electronic invoice and electronic sales reporting system requirements.

The BIR said a separate RR on this will be issued soon.

In case the taxpayers or business activities are registered in a branch office, the taxpayers’ head office and all its branch offices shall also be covered by electronic sales reporting.

Covered taxpayers will likewise be granted additional allowable deduction from their taxable income amounting to a certain percentage of the total cost for setting up an electronic sales reporting system.

For micro and small taxpayers, the additional deduction from taxable income is 100% of the total setup cost of an electronic sales reporting system, while it is 50% for medium and large taxpayers.

The deduction can be availed of only once within the taxable year.

Exempted from the electronic invoice issuance requirement are micro taxpayers, although they may voluntarily use e-invoices.

In the absence of an electronic invoice, micro taxpayers must issue a registered manual invoice.

Taxpayers have one year from the effectivity date of the regulation to comply with the electronic invoice issuance requirement. The RR takes effect 15 days following its publication in the Official Gazette or the BIR website.

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