Bureau of Internal Revenue
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has issued the following:
Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 98-2026, dated 22 September 2026, prescribing policies and guidelines on the Issuance of Electronic Invoice under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 8-2022 and RR No. 11-2025, as amended by RR No. 26-2025.
The following are the salient points of the RMC:
- The Circular provides definitions of key terms, identifies the covered taxpayers, and prescribes the requirements for an invoice to qualify as an electronic invoice.
- All covered taxpayers, except Micro taxpayers, are required to comply with the electronic invoicing requirements on or before 31 December 2026.
- A taxpayer shall have the option to use an in-house or commercially acquired electronic invoicing solution, or avail of the services offered by an Electronic Invoicing Service Provider (ESP).
- Invoices generated by a Computerized Accounting System (CAS), Computerized Books of Accounts (CBA) with Accounting Records (with electronic invoicing), Point of Sales (POS) System, or other accounting/invoicing software or system, and subsequently printed on paper for issuance to buyers, shall not be considered electronic invoices if the system does not have the capability to electronically issue and transmit the invoice to the buyer and electronically transmit or report the required sales data to the BIR. Such invoices shall instead be treated as invoices generated through a system and shall be subject to the rules applicable to non-electronic invoicing.
- Electronic invoices shall be in a structured electronic format.
- The electronic invoice may be printed and furnished to the buyer, purchaser or customer for reference or record-keeping purposes, including in business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions where the electronic transmittal is not practicable, inconvenient or not possible, provided that the original invoice was generated and can be issued electronically and all electronic invoicing requirements prescribed under this Circular have been complied with.
- Any correction or adjustment to an issued electronic invoice shall be made through a separate document that references the original electronic invoice. A decrease in the invoiced amount shall be effected through a duly authorized Credit Note/Memo, while an increase in the invoiced amount shall be effected through the issuance of a new electronic invoice.
- Taxpayers not mandatorily required to comply with the electronic invoicing requirements on or before 31 December 2026, may voluntarily adopt electronic invoicing, provided that they secure a Permit to Issue (PTI) Electronic Invoice from the concerned Revenue District Office.
- For taxpayers with registered branch offices, including those whose covered business activities are registered as branch offices, compliance with the requirements of RR No.11-2025, as amended by RR No. 26-2025, shall apply to the taxpayer as a whole.
- In the event of system downtime, system unavailability, technical malfunction, internet connectivity issues, power interruption, cybersecurity incidents, force majeure events, or other circumstances that prevent the generation or issuance of an electronic invoice, the taxpayer shall issue a manual invoice duly authorized by the Bureau to document the transaction in accordance with Section 237 of the Tax Code.
- Taxpayers required to issue electronic invoices shall secure a PTI Electronic Invoice from the BIR prior to the generation or issuance of electronic invoices.
- A PTI Electronic Invoice shall be issued to the Head Office and each separate branch, all bearing the same PTI Electronic Invoice number and indicating the branch to which the PTI Electronic Invoice pertains.
- The electronic invoice generated through the registered/approved/accredited software/system with PTI Electronic Invoice, whether issued electronically and/or subsequently printed, shall be recognized as a valid proof of transaction for taxation purposes and substantiation requirements under Section 34(A)(l)(b) of the Tax Code.
- All taxpayers required to issue electronic invoices shall obtain an Electronic Invoicing and Sales Reporting (EIS) Certification to validate the capability of their electronic invoicing systems to electronically extract, process, and transmit sales data. Taxpayers shall secure an EIS Certification within six (6) months from the issuance of PTI Electronic Invoice.
- All covered taxpayers shall continue to comply with the applicable electronic invoicing, notwithstanding any subsequent change in their classification under the EOPT framework, unless expressly reclassified or exempted by the Bureau through a separate issuance.
The RMC took effect immediately.
BIR Public Advisory dated 14 September 2026 clarifies that as of the date of the advisory, the BIR has not accredited, authorized, certified, recognized, or endorsed any entity as an official BIR ESP, partner, representative or solution provider of electronic invoicing and sales reporting systems.
The BIR noted that no person or entity may represent, whether verbally, in writing, or through its website, social media account, marketing materials, presentations, proposals, or any other medium, that it is accredited, authorized, recognized, endorsed by, or officially affiliated with the BIR as an ESP.
The BIR temporarily suspended the accommodation of requests from ESPs, prospective solution providers, and similar entities for meetings, consultations, courtesy calls, presentations, product demonstrations, technical discussions, business proposals, and other similar engagements concerning accreditation, onboarding, certification, systems integration, product offerings participation, or other ESP-related matters.
Here are the links to the full texts of the issuances: RMC No. 98-2026 and BIR 14 September Advisory.