Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. is appealing to finance officials to conduct the registration of online sellers after the threat posed by the coronavirus disease COVID-19 outbreak has passed, saying on Tuesday that “requiring online sellers to troop to Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) offices in the middle of a pandemic exposes them to health risks that the government has explicitly and repeatedly urged the public to avoid.”
“Though Metro Manila and several other areas are slowly opening up, we continue to caution our citizens against unnecessarily leaving their homes––which is the right tack to pursue if we want to reduce opportunities for transmitting the disease,” said the legislator.
“Many of these online sellers have in fact turned to selling items online because of the dearth of mass transportation.”
“While I appreciate the rationale behind requiring these online sellers to register and understand the BIR is just doing its job, it may be more prudent to put off registration in the meantime and resume it when the environment is safer for all concerned.”
According to Abante, BIR Revenue Memo Circular 60-2020 requires online sellers to fill up forms and personally submit documents to BIR offices, which may prove difficult for those living in areas where public transportation has yet to resume.
“Aside from the inherent dangers of going to public places like BIR offices in the middle of this pandemic, there are also practical considerations that must be factored in,” said the solon.
The lawmaker pointed out that “many of these online sellers have in fact turned to selling items online because the dearth of mass transportation options make it infeasible to commute to work.”
“It may be more prudent to put off registration in the meantime and resume it when the environment is safer.”
“It seems unreasonable to compel them to travel to BIR offices when there are limited means of transportation,” added Abante.
The representative from Manila suggested that the BIR start requiring online sellers to start registering when transportation and other systems resume under the “better normal.”
“Our citizens are just doing what they can to survive during these extraordinary times, using whatever means they have to make a living. Let us not make their lives difficult, let us try to be more understanding given this difficult period.”