# BIR Forms 0619E and 1601EQ: Withholding tax you owe on what you pay

> The 2307 has two sides. When you pay rent or someone else's professional fee, you are the one who withholds, remits, and issues the certificate.

Source: https://taxkaya.com/forms/1601eq
Last checked: 2026-08-06

TAXKAYA is independent software, not affiliated with the Bureau of Internal Revenue. This document is general information, not tax advice.

## Why this exists, and why it covers you

Everyone learns creditable withholding from the receiving end: a corporate client keeps 5% of your fee and hands you a 2307. The duty runs the other way too, and that half is the one people discover during an audit rather than before it.

Section 57(B) of the Tax Code lets the Secretary of Finance require withholding on specified income payments, and the implementing rules in RR 2-98 as amended by RR 11-2018 name who must do it. The list includes an individual with respect to payments made in connection with a trade or business. Being small does not exempt you; being in business is the whole test.

The two payments a solo founder is most likely to make are exactly the two most commonly covered: rent on real property, withheld at 5%, and professional or talent fees to another individual, withheld at 5% where the payee has filed a sworn declaration that their gross will stay under 3 million, and 10% otherwise.

The reason this matters more than its size suggests: tax you were required to withhold and did not is collected from you, not from the person you paid. On top of that the expense itself can be disallowed as a deduction under Section 34(K), so a rent payment you failed to withhold on can cost you the withholding, the penalty, and the deduction.

## Who this is for

- Anyone in business who pays rent on an office, desk, studio or warehouse
- Anyone who pays a professional or talent fee to another individual, including subcontracted freelancers

## When

- **Months 1 and 2 of each quarter — Form 0619E** Remit what you withheld, on or before the 10th day of the following month. This is a remittance form: money moves, no detailed return is attached.
- **After each quarter — Form 1601EQ** The quarterly return covering all three months, due on the last day of the month following the quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. The Quarterly Alphalist of Payees goes with it.
- **Within 20 days of quarter end — Form 2307** Issue the certificate to each person you withheld from. It is their proof of prepaid tax, and withholding without issuing it leaves them paying twice.

## How to do it

1. Work out whether you have any covered payments at all. For most solo founders the honest answer is rent, or nothing.
2. Withhold at the point of payment. On 20,000 pesos of monthly rent you remit 1,000 to the BIR and hand the landlord 19,000 — the full 20,000 is still your expense and still fully deductible.
3. Ask a professional you engage for a sworn declaration of gross receipts early in the year. Without it you must withhold 10% rather than 5%, and they will feel the difference.
4. File 0619E for the first two months of the quarter, then 1601EQ for the quarter, through eBIRForms.
5. Issue each payee their 2307 within 20 days of quarter end, and keep your copy.

## What bites beginners

- A landlord who insists on the full amount is asking you to commit the offence on their behalf. The 5% is not a discount you negotiated, it is tax you are legally obliged to hold back, and the 2307 you give them makes it creditable against their own return.
- Registering as a withholding agent is a tax type on your COR. If you are withholding without that registration, file 1905 to add it — and if you registered for it but never withhold anything, you must still file zero returns or collect open-case penalties for nothing.
- Withholding is not your tax. It is someone else's tax that passed through your hands, which is why failing to remit is treated far more seriously than being late on your own return.
- The 2307 you issue and the 2307s you receive are unrelated. Do not net them against each other.

## Official form PDFs

- **BIR Form 0619E** Monthly Remittance Form of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld (Expanded), January 2018 (ENCS): https://taxkaya.com/bir-forms/0619e.pdf
- **BIR Form 1601EQ** Quarterly Remittance Return of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld (Expanded), January 2019 (ENCS): https://taxkaya.com/bir-forms/1601eq.pdf

## Sources

- [NIRC Sec. 57 on withholding at source, consolidated text (NTRC)](https://ntrc.gov.ph/images/quicklinks/NIRC%20of%201997,%20as%20Amended%20by%20RA%2010963%20-%20updated.pdf)
- [RR 11-2018, withholding rates and agents (BIR, PDF)](https://bir-cdn.bir.gov.ph/BIR/pdf/RR%20No.%2011-2018.pdf)
- [Bureau of Internal Revenue](https://www.bir.gov.ph)

## Related guides

- [BIR Form 2307: Certificate of creditable tax withheld](https://taxkaya.com/d/forms/2307.md)
- [BIR Form 1905: Registration updates and closure](https://taxkaya.com/d/forms/1905.md)
- [BIR Form 2303: Certificate of Registration](https://taxkaya.com/d/forms/2303.md)