How to register as self-employed with the BIR in the Philippines

This is general information, not tax or legal advice — talk to a CPA about your specific situation, and confirm current requirements with your Revenue District Office (RDO) or the BIR website.

Short answer: registering as self-employed means telling the BIR you're now earning as a freelancer, professional, or business — not just an employee — and getting three things in return: a Certificate of Registration (COR), registered books of accounts, and the ability to issue a registered invoice. Everything else (which tax rate, how often you file) comes after that foundation is in place.

Who this is for

• Freelancers and independent contractors (writers, designers, developers, virtual assistants) with no employer withholding their taxes.
• Licensed professionals in private practice (accountants, engineers, consultants) not employed by a firm.
• Online sellers running a store, whether or not it's their only income.
• Anyone with mixed income — a day job plus freelance work on the side. You still need to register the self-employed portion separately from your employment.

If you're purely an employee with taxes withheld by one employer, none of this applies to you.

Step 1: Confirm your RDO

Your registration lives at the Revenue District Office covering your home address (or your principal place of business, if different and you'd rather register there). If you already have a TIN from a previous job, you may need to transfer RDOs with BIR Form 1905 before you can register as self-employed — you can't register a new business type at the wrong RDO.

Step 2: File BIR Form 1901

Form 1901 is the registration form for self-employed individuals, mixed-income earners, and professionals (Form 1902 is for pure employees, so don't use that one). You'll typically need:

• A valid government ID and your TIN (or TIN application if you don't have one yet).
• Proof of address.
• DTI Certificate of Business Name Registration if you're operating under a trade name rather than your own name.
• A Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) ID, if you're a licensed professional.
• Barangay clearance and Mayor's/Business Permit, if your RDO requires them for your type of activity.

At this stage you'll also declare your line of business and, for many applicants, get the option to elect the 8% flat income tax rate instead of the graduated rates — see 8% vs. graduated rates for how that choice works and which one tends to come out ahead.

Step 3: Get your Certificate of Registration (COR / Form 2303)

The COR is your proof of registration — it lists your registered activity, your filing obligations (which forms, on what schedule), and must be displayed at your place of business (a home address counts). Keep a photo of it; you'll be asked for its details more often than you'd expect — clients, banks, and marketplaces sometimes want a copy before they'll pay you or approve a seller account.

Step 4: Register your books of accounts

Every self-employed person or business is required to keep books — manual ledgers, loose-leaf, or a computerized accounting system (CAS), registered with the BIR before use. For most freelancers and small sellers just starting out, manual books (a General Journal and General Ledger, or a simplified version bought pre-printed and stamped by the RDO) are enough. You don't need accounting software to satisfy this step, though Resiboo can still handle the receipt side of your record-keeping regardless of which books you use.

Step 5: Set up how you'll invoice

You need a way to issue a registered sales invoice to your clients or customers — either printed invoice booklets from a BIR-accredited printer (Authority to Print, or ATP) or an electronic invoicing setup if you're using a registered CAS. See official receipt vs. sales invoice for what changed here under the 2024 reforms — the short version is that the invoice, not a separate receipt, is now the primary document either way.

What registration doesn't do for you

Registering gets you compliant on paper. It doesn't organize the receipts you'll be collecting on the expense side — the invoices from your own suppliers and vendors that you'll need to support any deduction. See tracking business expenses as a freelancer or online seller for the habit that makes that part manageable, and how long to keep receipts for BIR taxes for how long everything from here on needs to survive.

Resiboo won't file your registration for you, but once you're registered and the invoices start arriving — from suppliers, from your own subscriptions, from every business expense — it scans, categorizes, and exports them so your books stay current from day one instead of becoming a year-end scramble.