New POS cancellation rules issued

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said it streamlined the process for cancelling permits to use (PTU) cash registers, point-of-sale (POS) machines and other such devices in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business Act.

BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 69-2020 Monday ordering approval for cancellation applications in three to seven days.

“This Circular is hereby issued to streamline existing procedures in accordance with the requirement of RA (Republic Act) No. 11032 otherwise known as the ‘Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018,’” according to the circular.

The BIR said individuals requesting cancellations should notify their district offices within five days since the machines’ day of last use in a letter that contains the permit number, identification number, type of machine, serial number, brand, software and grand accumulated sales.

If the application is filed via the Electronic Accreditation and Registration (eAccReg) system, Revenue District Offices (RDO) are required to act within three days from receipt of the application.

The BIR officer conducting the inspection will also need to be provided a list of documents.

“Non-payment of the penalties at the time of the request for cancellation of the PTU shall not be grounds for the non-issuance of the Cancellation Certificate,” it said.

A memorandum report will then be generated after the inspection and when approved, representatives from the bureau can cancel the PTU and the machine identification number of the cash register, POS terminal or other device.

“In order to authorize the simultaneous registration in eAccReg system of the new accredited software or upgraded software to be installed in the same machine with application for cancellation of the old software, the taxpayer shall secure approval in writing from the concerned LT (large taxpayer) Office/RDO to add a distinct prefix/suffix to the serial number of the sales machine to allow registration of the new software consisting of serial number of machine followed by prefix/suffix e.g., 123456A,” BIR said.

The Ease of Doing Business Act was signed into law in May 2018, requiring government offices to streamline their transactions and cut red tape.

The law sets a three-working-day period to process simple transactions, seven days for complex ones, and a 20 days window for those deemed highly technical. — Beatrice M. Laforga