BIR mulls taxing online stores

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue is studying the possibility of taxing online stores by next year.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said in a radio interview that the state's tax agency will also run after online stores which earn considerable revenues without issuing receipts to the government.

Henares said online shops are no different from actual stalls that sell items to people. She added that the online businesses should be registered and issuing receipts.

She said the government stands to earn about P300 billion in additional revenues from the proposal, which also protects the rights of consumers who wish to return or exchange the items they bought.