E-receipt pilot up and running within six months: The Finance Ministry will launch the pilot phase of its e-receipt system in the next six months to complement the existing e-invoicing program, the ministry said in a statement.

Why the move? The new scheme aims to help the Tax Authority monitor and verify all commercial transactions of goods and services between taxpayers and consumers in real time, while cracking down on tax evasion and tackling the informal economy.

In detail: The system, which will be implemented by Microsoft and the state-owned E-Tax, will include 100 taxpayers during the initial pilot phase. Sales data controllers (SDCs) will be installed in all payment processing systems used by retailers and wholesalers to monitor and record all tax relevant transactions.

The ministry began piloting its e-invoicing system with 134 companies in November before expanding it to almost 350 companies in the second phase in February. All large taxpayers were required to begin submitting invoices through the new system on 1 July. The ministry now plans to gradually roll out the e-invoicing system for all B2B transactions.