ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Business devider BIR: Online transaction withholding tax won't hike goods prices

BIR: Online transaction withholding tax won't hike goods prices

Published Jan 18, 2024 05:45 am

At A Glance

  • The Bureau of Internal Revenue clarified that the recently imposed withholding tax on online transactions will not increase the price of goods in online marketplaces. <br>BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said that unlike the value-added tax, which is an additional amount to the cost of goods, a withholding tax is already deducted from the selling price itself.<br>The BIR commissioner also stated that the imposition of the withholding tax will ensure the records of online merchants in case of issues on items and goods sold.

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said that imposing withholding tax on online transactions will not increase the price of goods in online marketplaces.  

As per the BIR Revenue Regulations No. 16-2023, withholding tax will be imposed on one percent of the gross remittances by electronic marketplace operators and digital financial services to online merchants for the goods sold through their platforms.

“Ang pagpataw ng withholding tax sa online transactions ay hindi magreresulta ng pagtaas ng presyo tulad ng value added tax. Ang value added tax ay dagdag talaga sa halaga na dapat na benta ng seller,” Lumagui explained in a Facebook video.

[The imposition of withholding tax on online transactions will increase prices like value-added tax. The value-added tax is added to the amount that should be sold by the seller.]

“Ang withholding tax ay ang pagbawas o pag-withold sa kabuuang matatanggap ng seller at hindi additional amount sa selling price. Sa selling price mismo ibabawas ang withholding tax,” he added.

[The withholding tax is the reduction or withholding of the total received by the seller and not an additional amount to the selling price. The withholding tax will be deducted from the selling price itself.]

A withholding tax is a kind of income tax that is declared by the seller, while the value-added tax is imposed on the goods sold, which is not part of the gross remittances remitted to online sellers in such a sense.

The BIR defined an electronic marketplace as a digital platform whose business is to connect online buyers with online sellers.

These include marketplaces for online shopping, food delivery platforms, and platforms for booking of resort, hotel, motel, inn, and house, among other similar lodging accommodations, and other service or product marketplaces.

According to the BIR, The withholding tax imposed does not apply to online sellers whose annual total gross remittances for the past taxable year have not exceeded P500,000.

It also does not apply to those whose cumulative gross remittances in a taxable year have not yet exceeded P500,000, and cooperatives registered with the BIR with a valid certificate of tax exemption.

The BIR commissioner also stated that the imposition of the withholding tax will ensure the records of online merchants in case of issues on items and goods sold.

“May benepisyo at proteksyon ang pagpataw ng withholding tax sa panig ng consumer dahil makakasigurado tayo na ang online merchant o seller ay rehistrado at kung sakaling may reklamo sa kanilang produkto, maaari natin silang habulin at ireklamo,”  he said

[The imposition of withholding tax has benefits and protection on the consumer side because we can be sure that the online merchant or seller is registered and if there is a complaint about their product, we can chase them and complain.]
 

Related Tags

Bureau of Internal Revenue value added tax Romeo Lumagui Jr.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.