House Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda, author of the provisions of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act on regulatory relief for business, called on the recently formed government committee on regulatory relief to prioritize making online small business registration easier, and remove the registration fees imposed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). Salceda made the comments in response to the formation this week of the government committee to pursue regulatory relief, in compliance with Bayanihan 2.

Salceda, who is also author of the proposed Online Small Business Support Services Act which would provide online businesses loans, grants, and skills training, said that many small online businesses want to legitimize as registered businesses, but are struggling with processes in licensing agencies.

“Online businesses are the saviors of the Philippine economy in this pandemic. Many of them are home-based, and are the only source of income for many families. They want to register as formal businesses, so they can avail of government loans, grants, and other services. They want to register with online payment systems. But, it’s not easy to register a business right now,” Salceda said.

“Under current processes, you have to face 10 agencies to register a business in the country. It takes 33 days at least to complete these processes. And you have to pay a registration fee with the BIR to pay taxes. Imagine how absurd that is – there is a barrier to paying taxes,” Salceda added.

Salceda cited his paper titled “RECOMMENDATIONS TO ELIMINATE RED TAPE: A focus on business registration” as a possible guide for regulatory relief efforts of the government pursuant to Bayanihan 2. Salceda’s paper maps out a strategy to make single-day business registration possible.

Salceda also urged the BIR to abolish the taxpayer registration fee of P500, currently imposed as an annual fee by the Bureau.

“It’s absurd to impose a fee to allow people to pay taxes. It’s the state which benefits from taxpayer compliance. Paying taxes is not a privilege that people will apply for. It’s a government rule we are happy to see people follow. So, we should not impose barriers to paying taxes,” Salceda, who heads the House’s tax committee, said.

Salceda also urged the BIR to relax rules on in-person registration for a taxpayer identification number.

“It’s frankly redundant. Banks and brokers already allow virtual appearance in opening an account. Even notaries public allow it. If you can take an oath virtually, why should registering as a taxpayer, an act of transparency on your part, be any harder?”

“If they don’t do it, we will do it,” Salceda added, citing his House Bill No. 7881, or the Ease of Paying Taxes Act.

“We should put a premium on businesses and taxpayers who register and contribute to the economy and the treasury. We shouldn’t make it harder to register as a legitimate, taxpaying business,” Salceda said.