Start with your 2303
Your Certificate of Registration (BIR Form 2303) lists the taxes your business is registered for. That list is your filing checklist: if a tax type is on it, you file that return even in a month or quarter with no sales. If you run more than one business, each TIN has its own 2303 and its own calendar.
Three things decide which filings apply to you:
- Your business type: sole proprietor, One Person Corporation (OPC), corporation or partnership.
- VAT-registered or not. You must register for VAT once your sales pass ₱3,000,000 in any 12 months. Below that you pay 3% percentage tax instead, or nothing extra if you're a sole proprietor on the 8% option.
- Employees, rent or contractors. Paying them makes you a withholding agent, which adds its own returns.
| Sole proprietor | OPC or corporation | |
|---|---|---|
| Registered with | DTI (business name) and BIR | SEC and BIR |
| Income tax | Graduated rates, or 8% of sales | 20% or 25% of net income |
| Quarterly income tax | 1701Q, three times a year | 1702Q, three times a year |
| Annual income tax | 1701, 1701A or 1701-MS | 1702-RT |
| Business tax, not VAT-registered | 2551Q (3%), unless on 8% | 2551Q (3%) |
| Business tax, VAT-registered | 2550Q (12%) | 2550Q (12%) |
| SEC filings | None | Financial statements every year, plus a GIS (corporations) or officer appointments (OPCs) |
The filings
See your exact dates: the filing calendar tool shows every deadline for your business type on a calendar, moved for weekends and holidays.
These are the usual dates for a business with a January–December year. When a date falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next working day. Rows marked if you have employees or if you withhold apply only when that's true for you.
Every month
| Due | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | 1601-C: tax withheld from salaries (December's is due 15 January) | If you have employees |
| 10th | 0619-E: tax you withheld from rent, contractors and suppliers, for the 1st and 2nd month of each quarter | If you withhold |
| 10th–end of month | Pag-IBIG, by the first letter of your business name: A–D 10th–14th, E–L 15th–19th, M–Q 20th–24th, R–Z 25th onward | If you have employees |
| 11th–20th | PhilHealth, by the last digit of your employer number: 0–4 by the 15th, 5–9 by the 20th | If you have employees |
| Last day | SSS contributions for the previous month | If you have employees |
There is no monthly VAT return anymore. It became quarterly in 2023.
Every quarter
| Due | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 20th after the quarter | Give 2307 certificates to the people you withheld from | If you withhold |
| 25th after the quarter | 2550Q VAT return, with the Summary List of Sales and Purchases (SLSP) | VAT-registered |
| 25th after the quarter | 2551Q percentage tax (3%) | Not VAT-registered, and not on the 8% option |
| Last day of the next month | 1601-EQ: quarterly withholding return, with the list of payees (QAP) | If you withhold |
| 15 May, 15 Aug, 15 Nov | 1701Q quarterly income tax | Sole proprietors |
| 60 days after the quarter (30 May, 29 Aug, 29 Nov) | 1702Q quarterly income tax | OPCs and corporations |
There's no fourth-quarter income tax return: the annual return covers it.
Every year
| Due | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 15 January | Register printed-and-bound (loose-leaf) books for the year just ended, through ORUS | If you keep loose-leaf books |
| 20 January | Business permit (Mayor's permit) renewal and local business tax, or its first installment. Many cities extend this, so check yours. | Everyone |
| 30 January | Register computerized books through ORUS, and submit your inventory list | Computerized books; anyone holding stock |
| 31 January | 1604-C annual return of salary withholding, and 2316 certificates to employees | If you have employees |
| End of February | Community tax certificate (cedula) for the business | Everyone |
| 1 March | 1604-E annual return of other withholding | If you withhold |
| 15 April | Annual income tax return: 1701, 1701A or 1701-MS for sole proprietors; 1702-RT for corporations | Everyone |
| 30 April | Upload the return's attachments, including financial statements, through eAFS | Everyone filing an annual return |
| Set by SEC each year | Financial statements with the SEC through eFAST (2026: 15 June) | OPCs and corporations |
| 30 days after the annual stockholders' meeting | General Information Sheet (GIS) through eFAST | Corporations (not OPCs) |
| 15 October | Second half of the annual income tax, if you chose to pay in two parts | Sole proprietors owing more than ₱2,000 |
| 24 December | 13th-month pay | If you have employees |
2026 only: BIR moved the 2025 annual returns from 15 April to 15 May 2026 (RMC 30-2026), and the SEC moved financial statements to 15 June 2026. The normal dates return in 2027.
Sole proprietors
Graduated rates or 8%? If you're not VAT-registered and your sales are ₱3,000,000 or less, you can choose to pay 8% of gross sales instead of the graduated income tax and the 3% percentage tax. If you have no other job, the first ₱250,000 of sales is not taxed under the 8% option.
- Choose it on your first-quarter 1701Q (or first 2551Q) of the year, or when you register. The choice can't be changed for that year.
- On 8%, you file no 2551Q: just three 1701Qs and the annual 1701A.
- Once you're VAT-registered or your sales pass ₱3,000,000, the 8% option is gone and graduated rates apply.
Micro and small sole proprietors (sales below ₱20,000,000) can file the 1701-MS, a simplified annual return of no more than two pages.
Your own contributions: with no employer, you pay SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG yourself as a self-employed member.
OPCs and corporations
For BIR, an OPC is taxed exactly like any corporation. The differences are with the SEC.
- Income tax is 20% of net taxable income when that's ₱5,000,000 or less and total assets (excluding land) are ₱100,000,000 or less; otherwise 25%. From the fourth year of operations, a 2% minimum tax on gross income applies if it's higher. There's no 8% option.
- Audited financial statements: BIR requires statements audited by an independent CPA when gross sales are above ₱3,000,000. From 2026 the SEC uses a ₱3,000,000 test on total assets or liabilities.
- GIS: corporations file one within 30 days of the annual stockholders' meeting. OPCs don't file a GIS. They report their officers on a separate form, and must report changes.
- Everything with the SEC goes through eFAST. Email and over-the-counter filing are no longer accepted.
A general partnership is taxed like a corporation. A general professional partnership (for example, a partnership of accountants) is not taxed itself; its partners are.
Online sellers: extra rules
- Marketplace withholding. Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop and other platforms withhold 0.5% of your gross remittances (your sales through the platform, before VAT, returns, discounts and separately billed shipping) and give you a 2307 for it. Collect every 2307 and subtract them from your income tax on the 1701Q/1702Q and the annual return, listing them in the summary alphalist (SAWT). Sellers with low yearly remittances (₱500,000 or less) may be exempt by giving the platform a sworn declaration. Check with your platform.
- BIR Registration Seal Badge. Show it on your store pages, website and business social media. The grace period ends 31 October 2026 (RMC 99-2026).
- E-invoicing. Online sellers that aren't micro taxpayers must issue e-invoices by 31 December 2026, after getting a Permit to Issue from their RDO. The Academy's e-invoicing lesson covers each step.
- Withholding on the invoice. From 2026, any creditable withholding tax must appear as a separate line on your invoices (RR 6-2026).
How to file it all online
Almost everything can be done without going to your RDO.
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Registration, updates, choosing the 8% option, registering books | ORUS (orus.bir.gov.ph) |
| Filing BIR returns | eBIRForms for most businesses. Large taxpayers and certain others must use eFPS. |
| Annual return attachments and financial statements | eAFS. Its reference number is your proof of filing. |
| Lists: SLSP, SAWT, QAP, alphalists | eSubmission (validated data files emailed to BIR) |
| Paying BIR | Land Bank Link.BizPortal, UnionBank, or DBP PayTax. DBP's partners MyEG (which takes GCash, Maya, GrabPay and ShopeePay) and the Maya app also work. Or pay at any authorized bank. |
| SEC | eFAST |
| SSS | My.SSS employer portal |
| PhilHealth | EPRS |
| Pag-IBIG | Virtual Pag-IBIG / eSRS (now required for all employers) |
| DTI business name | BNRS (bnrs.dti.gov.ph) |
| Business permit | Your city's online permit system, where available |
Still done at the RDO: registering loose-leaf invoices and receipts, the Permit to Issue e-invoices, and the CAS system registration. Since 2024 you can file and pay at any RDO or bank, not only your own.
No longer required
- Monthly VAT return (2550M): gone since 2023.
- ₱500 annual registration fee (Form 0605): abolished in January 2024 by the Ease of Paying Taxes Act.
If you file late
Micro and small taxpayers (sales below ₱20,000,000) pay lighter penalties since 2024:
| Penalty | Micro and small | Medium and large |
|---|---|---|
| Surcharge | 10% | 25% |
| Interest | 6% a year | 12% a year |
| Compromise penalty | Half of the usual amount | Full |
Things that vary
Some rules depend on your situation or your city, so confirm them with your RDO or accountant:
- Your city's permit and local tax deadlines, which are often extended
- Whether your 8% election carries over to the next year, which differs between RDOs
- DTI business name renewal windows
- The SEC's financial-statement schedule for 2027, which hasn't been issued yet
Sources
- RR 16-2023: marketplace withholding (BIR)
- RR 5-2025 digest: 0.5% marketplace withholding (BIR)
- RMC 20-2026 digest: annual returns, 1701-MS, eAFS, e-payment channels (BIR)
- RMC 30-2026: 2025 annual returns moved to 15 May 2026 (BIR)
- 2026 tax calendar (Isla Lipana & Co. / PwC Philippines)
- SEC MC 9-2026: AFS and GIS filing (Grant Thornton summary)
- SEC MC 4-2026: ₱3M audit threshold (Aureada Law summary)
- RR 8-2024 taxpayer classification and reduced penalties (Grant Thornton summary)
- BIR Registration Seal Badge deadline, RMC 99-2026 (Grant Thornton summary)
- Pag-IBIG eSRS for employers (Pag-IBIG Fund)
General information, not tax advice. Rules change, so confirm with your accountant or your RDO before you file.