Philippine Senator Bam Aquino has asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue to temporarily suspend its Registration Seal Badge requirement for online merchants, freelancers and content creators before the current Oct. 31 compliance deadline.

Aquino said the BIR should first hold in-person public consultations to address complaints from small digital entrepreneurs, including reported technical issues, added administrative costs and security concerns tied to the rollout of the rule.

Call to halt the mandate

The requirement was set out in Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 38-2026. It directs e-commerce sellers, vloggers, influencers and digital service providers to display a digital registration seal with an official QR code on their storefronts and social media profiles as proof of tax compliance.

In a statement, Aquino said the agency should postpone the requirement and hear the grievances of online sellers and content creators first. He argued that government agencies should support people trying to earn income through digital commerce instead of placing additional regulatory burdens on them.

Costs, penalties and the current deadline

The BIR has said generating the digital badge itself is free. However, taxpayers who need to update their records through the bureau’s Online Registration and Update System must pay a 30-peso documentary stamp tax.

Separate rules under Revenue Regulations No. 15-2024 provide that not displaying the seal, or a Certificate of Registration, on commercial platforms can lead to an administrative compromise penalty of 1,000 pesos for each violation. Earlier this year, the bureau issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 99-2026 extending the deadline to Oct. 31 and waiving non-display penalties during the grace period.

BIR’s stated rationale

The tax bureau has previously defended the policy as both a consumer protection and privacy measure. According to BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza, the seal is meant to replace the public posting of full registration certificates, which had exposed taxpayers’ home addresses and Taxpayer Identification Numbers.

Under that approach, the QR-coded badge is intended to verify compliance without requiring taxpayers to display the more sensitive details contained in traditional registration documents.

Broader policy backdrop

Aquino’s appeal fits into a wider digital-governance agenda he has been promoting. He is the principal author of the proposed Citizen Access to Digital and Electronic National Accounts Act, or CADENA Act, also referred to as the Blockchain the Budget Bill.

The proposal seeks to place national budget allocations and government expenditures on a tamper-proof blockchain ledger. For now, the immediate confirmed next step in this issue remains the Oct. 31 deadline set by the BIR, unless the agency acts on Aquino’s request to pause the seal mandate and open further consultations.

Source: bitpinas.com