The field guide
The BIR, in reading order.
Four chapters take you from unregistered to filing with confidence. Written for first-timers, against the rules in force in 2026: post-EOPT invoices, no more 500-peso registration fee, quarterly-only VAT. Not sure which chapters apply to you? Answer five questions and find out.
01
Register
One trip through ORUS or your RDO turns you into a registered taxpayer. Cheaper and faster than the horror stories say.
- 1901Registration for the self-employedPDFThe form that turns you from a person with clients into a registered taxpayer with a Certificate of Registration.
- 2303Certificate of RegistrationNot something you file. Something you receive, and the single most important document in your tax life.
- 1905Registration updates and closurePDFThe everything-changed form: transfer RDO, change address, add or drop tax types, replace a lost 2303, or close the business properly.
02
Operate
The paper trail you keep while working: invoices for every sale, books that stay honest, certificates that are literally money — and the withholding you owe on what you pay out.
- InvoicesInvoices after EOPTSince 2024 there is one primary document for goods and services alike: the Invoice. Official Receipts are history.
- Books of accountsBooks of accountsThe registered notebooks, or e-books, where your income and expenses officially live. Simple for freelancers, mandatory for everyone.
- 2307Certificate of creditable tax withheldPDFThe certificate a client hands you when they keep a slice of your fee for the BIR. That slice is your money, prepaid tax.
- BIR Forms 0619E and 1601EQWithholding tax you owe on what you payPDFThe 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.
03
File
Four dates a year, give or take. Which returns you file depends on one choice you make at registration.
- 1701QQuarterly income tax returnPDFThree times a year you tell the BIR what you earned that quarter and pay income tax as you go.
- 2551QQuarterly percentage taxPDFA 3% tax on gross receipts for non-VAT taxpayers on graduated rates. Choose the 8% option and this one disappears.
- 1701AAnnual income tax return, the short onePDFThe simple annual return for people whose income comes purely from business or profession, on the 8% option or on graduated rates with OSD.
- 1701Annual income tax return, the long onePDFThe full annual return for mixed-income earners and anyone itemizing deductions.
04
When you grow
Cross three million pesos in gross receipts and the rules change. Good problem, new forms.
The full library
All 106 forms bir.gov.ph publishes, mirrored here to preview or download. Registration, certificates, VAT, withholding, excise, transfer tax, and more.
At the counter
The same transactions as trips, not forms. ORUS or your RDO, with the official checklist code, the official clock and the official fee.
Your rights at the BIR
What the Ease of Doing Business Act obliges them to give you: a checklist, a deadline, and somewhere to complain when neither arrives.
E-invoicing and the EIS
Mandatory for its first group on 31 December 2026, and exempt below ₱3,000,000. Four questions tell you which side you are on.
Reading is half of it.
TAXKAYA turns these chapters into a working system: the deadlines on your dashboard, the numbers computed from your records.