How To Pay For Your BIR Registration Fee Without Leaving Home

Another year means another tax season! ? Ever since I sorted out my taxes as a freelance professional, I’ve really tried my best to do things right to avoid late penalties and the like. In previous years, I’d gotten comfortable with making trips to my RDO (regional district office) to manually file documents. By doing so, I had plenty of people to ask about the right procedures or for any updates.

Luckily, I’m not alone in this adulting. I have several friends with whom I’ve formed a sort of “Taxes Support Group”, and can confer with regarding this matter. So, this year is the 1st time I paid for my annual registration fee without leaving home! ??????

File and Pay For Your Registration Fee From Home

Prerequisite: the eBIR version 4 software (the same one I used for filiing my income tax return last year). Sadly, this program only runs on Windows operating systems (or at least not on my Mac).

Step 1

Download and install the program if you don’t have it yet.

Step 2

Run the program, and fill out the main page with personal information like Name, TIN, and RDO. The program remembers all your details, including home and email address, so succeeding tries will log you in automatically even if you only supply the first 3 fields stated above.

Step 3

Reveal the drop down menu and select Form 0605 (it’s at the top of the list, if I’m not mistaken). Scroll down to okay the choice. Click the button that says Fill Out beside it.

BIR Form 0605 for Payments

Step 4

Your personal details will auto-populate, so you only need to fill out the remaining fields.

Items 1, 4, and 7: Make sure you input the current calendar year, then type “01/31” for Due Date and “12/31” Return Period.

Item 6: My ATC is MC180, but this applies to both VAT and Non-VAT registered entities.

Item 8: Tax type is RF, for Registration Fee.

Item 11: My taxpayer classification is I for Income.

Item 17: Choose “Others” and then type Annual Registration Fee (it becomes all caps when you’re done).

Item 19: Type in “500.” This will also appear on Item 21.

Step 5

Click “Validate” at the bottom of the form. If there were some fields you missed out on, the system will let you know which items they are.

Step 6

Click “Submit.” Make sure you’re connected to the internet at this point, because it will send a copy for validation to BIR, and also to the email address that you provided. Wait for the confirmation email, then print that along with your completed form 0605.

Step 7

Make your payment with GCash. Goodness, this app can do so much! It’s free to download. Unfortunately, the current version is incompatible with my phone, so I had to devise a roundabout way. My guru and, appropriately, the Best Kind of Nice, paid through her GCash (only needed my TIN and email address for the receipt) and I paid her via BPI online. ? Thank you, technology!

EDIT – January 2021:

Form series: for renewal of registration, choose series 0600, and then 0605 for form number.

Return period: 12/31/the year of renewal

TIN: the first 9 digits

Branch code: the last 3 digits of your TIN, but since it needs 5 digits, add 2 zeroes (example: mine was 00000)

Amount: renewal of COR is P500.00, unless again, it has been changed without notice LOL, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Step 8

Wait for your GCash receipt, and print that too. I did, for my own record and in the event that BIR ever asks to see it. (LOL paranoid!)

And you’re done!

Can’t Run the eBIR Software?

Sorry, you have to do it the usual way. For one less queue (waiting your turn at an RDO computer terminal), download the printable forms here and fill out manually like I showed above. Make 3 copies and bring to your RDO for approval and stamping. Go to the partner banks (BPI and Union Bank among them), make the payment, and they will print the receipts on all 3 copies, and take 2. The last copy is for your records.

Disclaimer and Addendum

The info I provided are based on my ATC and Taxpayer Classification. How I learned to fill out some of the more specific fields are from my COR, and from the various employees of BIR that have familiarized me with the different forms through the years. The thing about BIR is it is still constantly changing. In effect, there is confusion on the systems, the rules, the forms, the rates, the processes, etc. I’d like to think this is because we are arriving at the most convenient way of filing taxes. Hopefully, we get there soon and standardize the system for years to come.

Areas for improvement on the offline eBIR forms include compatibility with Mac operating systems, and the option to export the forms to .pdf for easier saving and printing.

Hope this helps someone out there! LABAN, my freelance friends! FIGHTING ?