For Filipino freelancers · Current with the 2026 rules
Every form the BIR will ever ask you for.
Explained in plain language, computed from your own numbers, and ready before the date it is due. You file it yourself. Nothing here pretends otherwise.
- 7 days free
- No card
- Then ₱249 a month
- One tier
TAXKAYAYour businessMoney
Business
Tax and BIR
Good morning
Here's where the business stands today.
1701Q due August 15. Your Q2 numbers are ready: ₱66,900 gross, ₱4,255 estimated due.
Net profit this month
₱56,935.20
▲ 12% vs last monthRevenue this month
₱66,900.00
▲ 8%Expenses this month
₱9,964.80
▼ 5%Tax still to set aside
₱0.00
Fully fundedRevenue and expenses
Trailing 12 months
Tax readiness
₱21,500.00
set aside of ₱15,388.80 estimated
Estimated tax₱15,388.80
Already set aside₱21,500.00
Still to save₱0.00
Start here
The rules change depending on which of these you are.
Most of what goes wrong starts with reading advice written for somebody else. Pick the one that describes you and the rest of the site narrows to it.
Freelancer or professional
No DTI name, no shop, clients who pay you directly. You still register, you still file a 1701Q three times a year, and the first ₱250,000 you earn is untaxed either way.
Start with the 1901Sole proprietor with a DTI name
A registered business name, an Authority to Print, and books your RDO stamps. Same returns as a freelancer, plus paperwork that has to be kept in a specific way.
Books of accountsEmployed with a side hustle
Two income sources, so the annual return is a 1701 rather than a 1701A, and the ₱250,000 allowance is already spent by your salary. The 8% option works differently for you.
Take the 5-question quizPast ₱3M, or heading for SEC
VAT registration, a 2550Q every quarter, and the point where a sole proprietorship starts asking whether it should be a corporation. We cover the VAT return. We do not cover incorporation.
Read the 2550Q guideTAXKAYA is built for non-VAT sole proprietors and freelancers. If you are already VAT registered or already a corporation, parts of it will not fit, and it is cheaper for both of us to say that here than for you to find out in week two.
What it actually does
Five jobs, start to finish. This is the whole product.
Not a feature list. These are the five places people get stuck, in the order they hit them.
Start from nothing and end with a 2303.
Which form, which RDO, what to bring, what it costs, and what to refuse to pay. The ₱500 annual registration fee was abolished in 2024 and people are still being charged it. What is left is a ₱30 documentary stamp.
Read the registration guide
8% or graduated, decided on your numbers rather than a forum post.
Both regimes run against your real income and expenses, and the cheaper one is marked. The choice locks for the whole year on your first quarterly return, which is why guessing it is expensive.
How the two compare
Every figure the form asks for, next to the number of the box it goes in.
Most tools stop at telling you what you owe, which is the easy half. This names the eBIRForms package to open, the page the computation lives on, and the item number of every box, so the hard part is copying rather than interpreting.
See a worked 1701Q
The books your RDO stamped, not the four every blog assumes.
Which volumes exist is a fact printed on your Certificate of Registration, and it varies. Tell the app what you were actually given and every page after this one matches the paper on your desk rather than a generic set.
Read the books guide
It knows the page and the line your pen goes on next.
This is the part nobody solves. You have a bound, stamped, blank columnar book and a pen. TAXKAYA draws the page as your book rules it, greys out what you have already copied, and puts full ink on the line you stopped at.
How transcription works
Coming soon
The parts that do not fit in an app.
Long-form guides, written to the same standard as the free ones on this site and printed to be kept open beside the book you are writing in. The guides on the site stay free. These are separate.
The Four Books
You have your stamped books and a pen, and every page is blank. This guide names every column, tells you what to write in it, and follows one real month through all four books until the figures tie.
16 sections · non-VAT sole proprietors · manual books · edition 2026.08
Your first year with the BIR
Registration through to the first annual return, in the order it happens, with the queue-side details nobody writes down.
Draft cover · not yet written
The 1701Q, box by box
Every item on the quarterly return, what belongs in it, and the four boxes that cost people the most when they are left at zero.
Draft cover · not yet written
Pricing
One tier. Everything above is in it.
- Every feature, one tier, no add-ons
- All 13 BIR guides and the 106-form library, free to everyone
- Nothing auto-renews and no card is kept on file
- If it lapses, your books stay readable and printable
- Printed guides are sold separately, not bundled
- Row-level security scopes every table to your account
Straight answers
The questions everyone asks first.
Written against the rules in force as of July 2026, after the Ease of Paying Taxes Act changed several of them.
Do I need to register with the BIR if I only freelance?
Yes. Section 236 of the Tax Code covers every person earning taxable income on their own, so practising a profession for clients counts. You do not need a shop or a DTI business name for it to apply. Registering does not mean you owe tax: the first 250,000 pesos of annual income is tax-free either way. It means you file.
When is BIR Form 1701Q due?
Three times a year. Q1 covering January to March is due May 15, Q2 covering April to June is due August 15, and Q3 covering July to September is due November 15. The fourth quarter is settled on the annual return instead, not on a 1701Q.
Should I pick the 8% rate or the graduated rates?
It depends on your expenses. The 8% option is charged on gross receipts less the 250,000-peso annual allowance and replaces percentage tax, so it wins when you have few deductible costs. Graduated rates tax your profit after expenses, so they win when your costs are high. The choice has to be made at registration or on your first quarterly return of the year.
How much does BIR registration cost in 2026?
Far less than the horror stories. The 500-peso annual registration fee was abolished in 2024 under the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, so nobody should be charging it. What remains is the 30-peso documentary stamp tax. Anyone asking you for 500 pesos is working from outdated rules.
Does TAXKAYA file my returns with the BIR for me?
No, and that is deliberate. TAXKAYA is not affiliated with the BIR, eFPS, eBIRForms or ORUS. It works out what you are likely to owe and when it is due, then walks you through filing it yourself, step by step, until it stops being frightening. Services that file on your behalf cost thousands of pesos a month and leave you no better at it than when you started.
How much does TAXKAYA cost?
7 days free with no card required, then ₱249 a month. One tier with every feature. When a trial ends, new entries pause — everything you already recorded stays readable, printable and exportable, because lapsing is a read-only state, not a lockout.
Where is my financial data stored?
In our database, under the account you sign in with. Row-level security scopes every table to your account, so a query can only ever return your own rows — not another customer's, and not an administrator browsing at will.
April 15 is coming either way.
Meet it with clean books, a funded tax jar, and numbers that were ready months ago. Setup takes about three minutes.
7 days free, then ₱249 a month. Cancel any time — nothing renews on its own.