Cyberpreneur Philippiunes - Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
GETTING REGISTERED
WITH THE B.I.R
/ Karl Aguilar
“If you have to drag somebody to register, they’re not highly
motivated.”
– Roger Stone
Now that you’ve taken the path to becoming a cyberpreneur on a
full-time or part-time basis, it’s important that you take the step
of having your business registered with the Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR).
It’s an obligation we all must follow as Filipinos, regardless of how
you feel about the government. Besides, it also provides a sense of
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legitimacy to your business, which is helpful in dealing with your
clients.
But how does one go about registering with the BIR?
FIRST THINGS FIRST
freelance work from clients. On the other hand, partnerships and
corporations need certifications from the Securities and Exchange
Commission, among other requirements.
If you’re registering as a sole proprietor of a new startup, you’ll also
need the following documents to support your application.
You must first know the Revenue District Office (RDO) where your
Tax Identification Number (TIN) is currently associated with. If
you don’t have an office space, it would be where you live.
DTI BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION
If you’re currently employed, your default RDO is normally the
one that has jurisdiction over the area where your office address is.
Thus when you decide to register with the BIR, you would first have
to make a request with your current RDO for a transfer to another
RDO through BIR Form 1905, unless the RDO of your home and
work is the same.
MAYOR’S PERMIT
So for example you work in Makati but reside in Antipolo, you
would have to request for a transfer from the RDO in Makati to the
RDO of Antipolo. Wait for a week or two at least for this request to
be processed.
THE REQUIREMENTS
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LEASE CONTRACT/LAND TITLE
GETTING REGISTERED
With the required documents in tow, you could now proceed with
the registration process. Professionals, single business owners, as
well as mixed income taxpayers (many cyberpreneurs are covered
by this) need to fill out Form 1901.
You will submit the filled out form and the required documents to
the BIR officer in charge of new registration, who will then proceed
to review and validate your registration.
Depending on the nature of your business, the BIR has set up a
list of requirements applicable to your registration application.
It’s better to get in touch with the BIR to confirm what documents
you’re required to submit.
Once everything is completed, you will be asked to pay for the annual
registration fee which is PHP500 (at this time of publication) with
Form 0605, the form to be filled out for payment. You must pay at
one of the accredited banks/payment centers specified by your BIR
RDO.
For example, for service providers, the BIR requires them to submit
a birth certificate (copy), barangay clearance, and a certification of
After you’ve paid for the registration fee, you need to go back to
the RDO and provide them a copy of the Form 0605, as well as the
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transaction slip of the payment you just made. You will then be
advised to return after 2 days at least for the certificate of registration
(COR) that will be provided to you.
Recently, the BIR has been transitioning towards an
online or electronic type of system. Here’s where things
get tricky. With such moves, the BIR is no longer printing
some forms, including the Form 0605.
At this point, the BIR won’t provide you the old pen-and-paper form.
Instead, at least in some cases, you will be directed to someone
(not sure if the person I transacted with is a BIR employee or some
“enterprising” fellow) who will be printing your Form 0605 already
filled out with your particulars including the payment figures. And no,
that is not for free.
FINALLY REGISTERED...SORT OF
need to provide within 30 days from the date of registration (as
indicated in the COR) the books of account and a copy of the
official receipt you will be printing.
The books of account you would need to provide depends on your
work or business, but they normally include a journal and a ledger
that you can easily find at your neighborhood bookstore.
You don’t have to worry about VAT if your gross revenue
for a given month is not above PHP1,919,500.00.
BECOMING AN OFFICIAL RECEIPTISSUING BUSINESS
Upon your return to the RDO, you should be handed your Certificate
of Registration (COR) where you can find the particulars regarding
your registration, such as:
You cannot consider yourself a duly-registered service provider
or business without an official receipt under your name. It’s very
important that the printer of your official receipt is someone
accredited by the BIR.
The name of your business that will appear on record
Don’t just approach any neighborhood printer that you know. You
must get in touch with your RDO to know which printers in your
area are BIR-accredited, or you can check out BIR’s online list of
accredited printers and their contact information.
Tax information that shows the taxes and fees you’re
required to pay, namely: the annual registration fee, income
tax, (paid annually and every 1st to 3rd quarter of the year),
and percentage tax (paid monhtly)
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You will receive a registration document that you can use to hang
on your wall, like what other establishments do.
Once you have a printer, you will be asked by your printer to provide
a copy of the COR and the Form 0605 that reflects your registration
payment. Other than that, the printer will take care of printing
your official receipts and have them stamped by the BIR.
But the process does not end there, as your COR states you would
On your end, you would be the one to process the registration of
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Getting Registered with the BIR
the books of account. The good thing about it is that you don’t have
to go every year to have the books updated.
return) are now only available online. Fill out and download them
directly from the BIR website at the eBIRForms page.
When your new books of account are registered, you need to fill out
the details until the last page is used—no matter how long it takes
to consume all those pages. The only time you need to go to the BIR
is to have your new books of account registered with them, in such
case you just fill out the Form 1905.
You just need to download the .exe file that will generate whatever
BIR form you need and fill out the needed information; the
application will take care of the math for you.
There is a minimum number of official receipts to be
printed as mandated by the BIR and that’s 10 booklets
with 50 receipts each.
Even if you don’t see yourself consuming 500 pages
within a five-year period, (which is the length of time for
you to use those printed official receipts) you won’t be
able to request printing less than the required number.
FILING TAXES, THE “EXCITING” PART
Completed the steps above? Congratulations! You’re now dulyregistered, whether in a full-time or part-time capacity (freelancers
and sole proprietors).
Along with such a new distinction, you can now enjoy the privilege
of issuing official receipts under your business name. You also get
to partake in the exciting task of filing your taxes regularly on your
own (unless you have someone to help you do the filing).
As a newly-registered business, you’re required also to
attend the free seminar for new taxpayers being held
regularly by the RDO. I highly encourage you attend one of
these seminars to give you a better understanding on how
taxation for professionals like yourself work.
It’s also an opportunity to get in touch with someone from the BIR to
answer whatever questions you may have. Check with your RDO for
the schedule of these seminars and take advantage of them.
BIR’S E-FILING SYSTEM
The BIR has mandated that taxpayers should be registered in its
online system as it’s going to do away with manual forms.
The BIR actually has two online systems in place: the eFPS which
caters to large taxpayers, stock brokers, and the like; and the
eBIRForms which includes other individual and non-individual
taxpayers. Cyberpreneurs like you will use the eBIRForms.
In the case of the Form 0605, the forms in filing the percentage and
income tax returns (Forms 2551M for the percentage tax return and
1701Q for the quarterly income tax, 1701 for the annual income tax
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HOW TO USE THE BIR E-FILING SYSTEM
1
Set up your online account for the eBIRForms at
http://ebirforms.bir.gov.ph
2
Once signed up, go to your RDO to submit the following:
• A
printed copy of the email confirmation of your eBIRForms
account registration
• 2
valid IDs, and a letter of intent that you wish to register
to eBIRForms
• If you will have someone do that task for you, provide a
letter of authorization
3
Download the eBIRForms zip file to install the program on
your computer. This will generate the tax forms you need as
well as the tax calculation.
When done filling out the details, click the “Submit” button.
You’ll see the online eBIRForms account, which would then
reflect that you successfully filed the form online.
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If you need to pay, you would have to do the e-filing first then
print the online return and the email confirmation. You then
need to make a manual payment to an authorized bank.