Belize Tax Service phasing into E-Invoicing for businesses

By Zoila Palma:  The Belize Tax Service (BTS) on Friday, August 28, hosted an E-Invoicing Solutions Expo in Belize City, drawing a large crowd of business owners, entrepreneurs and service providers seeking information on the new electronic invoicing system.

Held under the theme “E-Invoicing from a Conversation to a Reality,” the expo featured seven solution providers who demonstrated how businesses can connect their accounting systems to Vertex Belize, the country’s electronic invoicing system. The initiative is being introduced under the new Revenue Authority Bill, with a voluntary phase now underway and a mandatory phase expected next year.

BTS Director General Michelle Longsworth said the Tax Service has spent the past year preparing businesses through sensitization sessions and a pilot project. “Over the past twelve months we have been having sensitization sessions we have been having our pilot project we have been working with businesses and solution providers to bring us where we are today,” Longsworth said. She added, “the voluntary phase starts now, the mandatory phase starts next year so we want to use this period for them to prepare.”

Longsworth explained to 7News Belize that e-invoicing will allow the Tax Service to receive standardized electronic invoices in real time, reducing the reliance on paper records and improving the way audits are conducted. “This is why for us as a tax administration to have those real-time which then lessens the need to do audits on all businesses and then we are able to identify audits or validations that we need to do based on risk,” she said.

While March 2027 is the anticipated timeline for implementation, Longsworth stressed that it should not be viewed as a strict penalty deadline. “We will continue to support those taxpayers to ensure that they understand what it is that they need to have in place in order to meet the needs of E-invoicing,” she said.

The post Belize Tax Service phasing into E-Invoicing for businesses appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.