# Register as a BMBE

> A separate track most freelancers never hear about: income tax exemption on what the business earns, in exchange for giving up the 8% option. Registered at a Negosyo Center, not the BIR.

Source: https://taxkaya.com/processes/bmbe-registration
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.

## Say this at the counter

- **Checklist of Documentary Requirements** Certificate of Authority, RA 9178
- **Quality form number** No BIR CDR. This is a DTI Negosyo Center transaction.
- **Revision** IRR: DTI Department Administrative Order 01, series of 2003
- **Citizen's Charter classification** Deemed registered if not acted on
- **RA 11032 legal maximum** 15 working days, after which registration is automatic

## What they may ask you for

- **BMBE application form, from the Negosyo Center** Centers vary in what else they ask for. A valid ID and a Mayor's Permit are the two most commonly added.
- **Your DTI Certificate of Business Name Registration** Or the SEC registration if you are a corporation or partnership, or the CDA registration if you are a cooperative.
- **Proof that total assets do not exceed 3,000,000 pesos** Assets include anything financed by a loan, and exclude the land your office, plant or equipment sits on. This is an asset test, not a sales test. The two get conflated constantly.

## Do not leave without

- The Certificate of Authority itself, valid two years and renewable for successive two-year terms
- Your receiving copy of the application, which is what starts the 15-working-day clock

## Pick your route

### At a DTI Negosyo Center, then at your RDO

- **Best for** A micro business under the 3,000,000-peso asset ceiling that is not a licensed professional practising their profession, and not a branch or franchise of a larger enterprise.
- **Official processing time** 15 working days, or you are deemed registered
- **Official fee** Free, per current DTI guidance

1. Check you are eligible before anything else. Production, processing, manufacturing, trading and services are covered. Services rendered by someone practising a licensed profession are excluded, as is any business that is a branch, subsidiary or franchise of a large enterprise, or whose policies it sets.
2. File the application at a DTI Negosyo Center. Registration used to run through the city or municipal Treasurer's Office. Current practice routes it through Negosyo Centers instead, which was circularised to the BIR so RDOs recognise it.
3. Collect the Certificate of Authority, or count the days. If 15 working days pass with no action, the law deems you registered. Keep the stamped receiving copy, since it is the only thing that proves when the clock started.
4. Take the Certificate of Authority to your RDO. The RDO also wants a sworn statement of assets, a certified list of branches, outlets and warehouses, a certified list of affiliates, and your latest audited financial statements or account information form.
5. Switch to filing an annual information return instead of an income tax return. Due on the 15th day of the 4th month after your taxable year closes, with the account information form and the sworn statement of assets attached.

Caveat: The income tax exemption covers income arising from the enterprise's operations. It is not a blanket exemption from internal revenue taxes, and it does not touch percentage tax, VAT, withholding taxes, books of accounts or your duty to issue invoices.

## What bites beginners

- BMBE and the 8% option are mutually exclusive. The 8% option is closed to anyone already enjoying an income tax exemption, so a BMBE that wants 8% has to give up the RA 9178 exemption for that whole taxable year. Sources agree on this and disagree on which issuance number says it, so ask your RDO to cite the instrument rather than quoting one at them.
- The 3,000,000-peso asset ceiling and the 3,000,000-peso VAT threshold are different numbers that happen to match. One is about what you own, the other about what you sell. Crossing the sales one still makes you liable for VAT or percentage tax as a BMBE.
- Local taxes and fees are only encouraged to be reduced or waived by your LGU, not required. Treat any local waiver as a bonus you confirmed, not an entitlement.
- The certificate expires after two years. Nothing reminds you.
- It does not replace BIR registration. You still register, still keep books, still issue invoices.

## Sources

- [RA 9178, the BMBE Act of 2002, full text](https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2002/ra_9178_2002.html)
- [Implementing rules, DTI DAO 01-2003 (PDF)](https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2002/pdf/irr_9178_2002.pdf)
- [DTI, guide to RA 9178 (PDF)](https://esigaw.dti.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/BMBE.pdf)
- [Republic Act 11032, full text](https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2018/ra_11032_2018.html)

## The forms behind this

- [BIR Form 1901: Registration for the self-employed](https://taxkaya.com/d/forms/1901.md)
- [BIR Form 2303: Certificate of Registration](https://taxkaya.com/d/forms/2303.md)
- [Books of accounts: Books of accounts](https://taxkaya.com/d/forms/books.md)