People assume BIR registration is one process, or that it is completely different for every kind of worker. Both are half right. The core is identical for everyone. The extra steps depend on how you earn.
So the fastest way to register without wasted trips is to know your path first. Here is what everyone shares, then the three paths and what makes each one different, each linking to a full step-by-step guide.
The Complete BIR Registration Process
The full path from unregistered to filing. Grey steps are for everyone; tagged steps apply to specific registrants.
Sole proprietors start here
Register your business name (DTI)
Register your trade name in the DTI BNRS. Valid five years.
Barangay clearance and Mayor's Permit
Local clearances for a physical business, secured before the BIR.
The BIR process, for everyone
Secure or update your TIN
One TIN for life. If you had a job, transfer your RDO with Form 1905.
File BIR Form 1901
Apply at the New Business Registrant Counter, by email via NewBizReg, or online via ORUS.
Pay the P30 DST
The only fee at registration. The P500 annual fee was abolished in 2024.
Get your COR (Form 2303)
Your certificate of tax types. You choose 8% or graduated here.
Register your books of accounts
A journal and ledger, manual, loose-leaf, or through ORUS.
Get an ATP, then invoices
Form 1906, printed by a BIR-accredited printer, or a registered e-invoicing setup.
Online earners add this
Display your Registration Seal Badge
A QR-coded badge on your storefront and channels, generated through ORUS.
File and pay your taxes, every quarter
Registration is one-time. Filing is the ongoing part. This is where you go next.
Path 1: Freelancers and Professionals
If you work from home for clients, whether local or abroad, yours is the lightest path. With no physical shop to permit, you can often register with little more than an ID and the core BIR steps.
- No local permits are needed for a purely home-based setup.
- Foreign-client income is still taxable, converted to pesos at the BSP rate.
- The 8% flat rate often suits low-expense freelancers.
- Freelancing alongside a job makes you a mixed-income earner, still registered.
Path 2: Online Sellers and Content Creators
If you sell on Shopee, Lazada, or TikTok Shop, run an online store, or earn from a channel, your core process is the same, but 2026 added online-specific obligations on top.
- You must display a Registration Seal Badge on your storefronts under RMC 38-2026.
- Marketplaces withhold a share of your payouts, creditable back to you via Form 2307.
- Non-micro sellers face an e-invoicing deadline of December 31, 2026.
- Platforms now require your COR to keep your seller account.
Full guide: BIR registration for online sellers and creators →
Path 3: Sole Proprietors and Small Business Owners
If you run a shop, stall, or trade under a business name, yours is the heaviest path, because a physical business needs to be named and locally permitted before the BIR.
- Register in order: DTI, then Barangay, then Mayor's Permit, then BIR.
- The DTI business name is required if you use a trade name.
- A seller of goods issues a Sales Invoice.
- Check BMBE: assets of P3 million or less can mean an income tax exemption.
What If You Are More Than One?
Plenty of people overlap: a freelancer who also sells prints online, or a shop owner who takes consulting work. That is fine. You hold more than one line of business under a single TIN and registration, and you follow the requirements that apply to each activity. If any part of what you do happens online, assume the online-earner rules apply to that part, and if you run a physical establishment, the local-permit layer applies to that. When in doubt, start from the hub and branch from there.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the same for everyone registering with the BIR?
The core process. Everyone secures a TIN, files Form 1901, pays the P30 documentary stamp tax, receives a Certificate of Registration, registers books of accounts, and sets up invoices. Everyone also chooses between the 8% flat rate and the graduated rates. The differences are in the extra steps around that core.
I freelance and also sell online. Which path do I follow?
You can hold more than one line of business under a single TIN and registration, so you follow the requirements that apply to each activity. In practice that means the online-earner rules, like the seal badge and marketplace withholding, apply to your selling, while your freelance income is reported the same way regardless.
Which type has the most extra steps?
The sole proprietor with a physical business, because it adds DTI business name registration and local permits before the BIR. Online sellers add the Registration Seal Badge and deal with marketplace withholding. Home-based freelancers have the lightest path, often just an ID and the BIR steps.
Do all three choose between the 8% and graduated rates?
Yes. The tax-rate election is universal. Freelancers, online sellers, and sole proprietors all decide at registration whether to use the 8% flat rate or the graduated rates, and it shapes the returns each of them files afterward.
Registered? Get found too
Whichever path you took, registration makes your work official. A listing makes it findable. Claim or add your free listing on azifind to appear on the city and category pages people use to find businesses like yours.