South Korea has helped the Philippines build a data center and establish a system in a bid to digitalize the invoicing system of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
As part of the system's nearing launch, a data center that will house the systems and associated components of Electronic Invoicing/Receipting System (EIS) of the BIR was inaugurated Monday, June 13. It is located at the BIR's headquarters in Quezon City.
According to Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Inchul, the Korean government through Korea International Cooperation Agency's (KOICA) has completed developing the EIS.
It is a US$7.3-million pilot project under KOICA that includes Integrated Tax Database for all kinds of taxpayers transactions, Invoice Data Reception for 100 large-scale taxpayers, e-Invoicing and Receipting System, BIR-hosted Invoicing, e-Sales Reporting System and VAT Refund Facility.
This digital invoice reporting system targets 100 Filipino corporations including Shell, P&G, San Miguel, SC Johnson and SM Retails.
Kim, who led the inauguration of the Data Center, said the project is a "launching of a new era in digitalization."
"It will be a totally different system to bring about something necessary in line with modernization. The economy will be more vibrant, and a more vibrant economy will grow and all targets will be reached," he said.
"This is the first step with over 100 taxpayers. The law requires that 3,000 large taxpayers have to be logging on to a system, issuing e-invoices or e-receipts for transactions that is made possible with the support of our KEXIM (Korea Export Import) Bank. Beyond the numbers, on my mind, between those 30 years our relations, our development corporations have grown exponentially," the ambassador added.
Aside from supporting the development of the system and the establishment of the Data Center, the South Korean government also donated the software and equipment comprising servers, storage and peripherals, 270 desktops, 130 laptops and 130 printers. These will be turned over to the BIR.
The establishment of the EIS Data Center is part of the BIR's preparation for the pilot implementation of the EIS, a project under the BIR’s Digital Transformation Program.
It is in compliance with the provision of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, which mandated the BIR that within five years from the effectivity of the Act and upon the establishment of a system capable of storing and processing the required data, to require identified taxpayers to issue electronic receipts or sales or commercial invoices in lieu of manual receipts or sales or commercial invoices.
Kim also affirmed that the Korean government with both financial resources and technical expertise will continue to support the Philippine government’s plan to expand the coverage of the EIS nation-wide.
"The Korean Embassy believes that Korea’s continued support to building and expanding the EIS will help the Philippine government address issues on compliance and transparency of business transactions as well as contribute to improving taxpayer services and by doing so, ultimately build stronger trust of business on tax administration," the Korean diplomat said.