BIR Form 1901: Register as Self-Employed or Mixed-Income

BIR Form 1901 is the Application for Registration filed by self-employed individuals (single proprietors), professionals, mixed-income earners, non-resident aliens engaged in trade or business in the Philippines, estates, and trusts. Filing it is how an individual taxpayer who earns business or professional income first appears on the BIR's rolls — or how an already-registered employee adds a business or professional tax type.

You file Form 1901 with the Revenue District Office (RDO) that has jurisdiction over your place of business or, for professionals without a fixed business address, your place of residence. As of 2026 you can also file it online through the BIR's Online Registration and Update System (ORUS) at orus.bir.gov.ph, which lets you complete the application, upload documents, pay statutory amounts, and receive your Certificate of Registration by email.

The output of a successful Form 1901 filing is the BIR Certificate of Registration, also called Form 2303. That certificate lists your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), registered name, business address, the specific tax types you must file (for example income tax, percentage tax or VAT, and withholding taxes), and your filing frequencies. Registration also covers your books of accounts and your authority to issue official receipts or invoices.

File Form 1901 if you earn income from a business you run yourself or from the practice of a profession. The form covers four main individual situations, and choosing it correctly matters because the BIR uses a different form for purely-employed taxpayers and another for companies.

If you are an employee earning only salary, you do not use 1901 — your employer registers you with Form 1902. If you operate as a corporation, partnership, cooperative, or government agency, that entity registers with Form 1903. And if you only need a TIN for a one-time transaction or under Executive Order 98 (for example, to transact with a government office), that is Form 1904.

Form 1901 covers these taxpayers

• Self-employed single proprietors — anyone running an unincorporated business (retail store, online seller, sari-sari store, services) under their own name or a DTI business name.
• Professionals — licensed and non-licensed practitioners such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, consultants, freelancers, and content creators earning professional fees.
• Mixed-income earners — individuals who are employed AND also earn business or professional income; they register the business/professional tax type on top of their existing compensation record.
• Estates and trusts — the estate of a deceased person or a trust that earns income and must file its own returns.
• Non-resident aliens engaged in trade or business in the Philippines.

Use Form 1901 for self-employed, professional, mixed-income, estate, and trust registrations; the other registration forms exist for distinctly different taxpayers. Picking the wrong form is one of the most common reasons an RDO rejects an application, so confirm your situation against the table below before filing.

A key nuance for mixed-income earners: you may already have a TIN from a previous employer's 1902 filing. You do not get a second TIN. Instead you use Form 1901 (often together with Form 1905 to transfer your registration to the correct RDO) to add the business or professional tax type to the TIN you already hold.

To register, complete Form 1901, gather your documentary requirements, file at your RDO (or via ORUS), and claim your Certificate of Registration along with your registered books and receipt/invoice authority. The ordered sequence below reflects the 2026 process under the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, which simplified several steps.

Registration steps in order

1. Secure a TIN first if you do not have one. If you have never been issued a TIN, you may apply for one through ORUS or via the 1901 application itself. If you already have a TIN (e.g., as an employee), do not apply for a new one.
2. Determine your correct RDO — the district covering your principal place of business, or your residence if you have no fixed business address. Mixed-income earners whose TIN sits in another RDO file Form 1905 to transfer first.
3. Complete BIR Form 1901 (use the latest version, January 2024 ENCS). Indicate taxpayer type, line of business (PSIC), tax types, and accounting period.
4. Prepare your documentary requirements (see the requirements table): government ID, DTI Certificate of Business Name if you use a trade name, Mayor's/Business Permit where required, and proof of address.
5. File the application — either submit the form and documents to your RDO in person, or file online through ORUS at orus.bir.gov.ph by selecting New Registration, Individual, then your taxpayer type.
6. Pay the applicable statutory amounts. The ₱500 Annual Registration Fee has been ABOLISHED (see the fees section). You typically pay the ₱30 documentary stamp tax on the Certificate of Registration; a small certification fee may also apply. ORUS accepts e-payment via GCash or Maya.
7. Register your books of accounts — manual, loose-leaf (with permit), or computerized (with a Permit to Use). Manual books must be registered, and under EOPT this is generally done before use; ORUS supports online books registration.
8. Secure your authority to issue receipts/invoices — either an Authority to Print (ATP) for printed invoices through a BIR-accredited printer, or register your invoicing under the applicable e-invoicing/EIS rules where those apply to you.
9. Claim and display your Certificate of Registration (Form 2303). You must post the COR at your place of business. Note your filing deadlines from the COR and begin filing the required returns.

The core documentary requirements are a valid government ID, the completed Form 1901, a DTI Certificate of Business Name if you trade under a name other than your own, and a Mayor's or Business Permit where your LGU requires it for registration. Always check your specific RDO's checklist, because requirements vary by taxpayer type and locality.

On fees, the single most important 2026 update is that the ₱500.00 Annual Registration Fee (ARF) has been abolished. Under the Ease of Paying Taxes Act (Republic Act No. 11976), effective January 22, 2024 and implemented by Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024, businesses no longer pay the ₱500 registration fee on initial registration or annual renewal. Anyone telling you to pay ₱500 to register or renew with the BIR is working from outdated information.

Once you hold your Certificate of Registration, three obligations begin immediately: keep registered books of accounts, issue BIR-registered receipts or invoices for every sale, and file the tax returns listed on your COR by their deadlines. Skipping any of these draws penalties even if your business is small or seasonal.

Your books of accounts can be manual columnar books, loose-leaf, or a computerized accounting system. Manual books must be registered with the BIR; loose-leaf and computerized books require a permit. For receipts and invoices, you either obtain an Authority to Print through a BIR-accredited printer, or register electronic invoicing where the e-invoicing/EIS rules apply to you. Self-employed taxpayers and professionals also choose between the graduated income-tax rates plus business tax, or the 8% income-tax option, where eligible — a choice that affects which returns you file.

Typical recurring returns for a self-employed or professional taxpayer include quarterly and annual income tax (BIR Form 1701/1701A and 1701Q), and a business tax — either percentage tax (Form 2551Q) for non-VAT taxpayers or VAT returns for VAT-registered taxpayers. Mixed-income earners consolidate compensation and business income on the annual income-tax return. Build the filing calendar straight from your COR so nothing is missed.

Orkids is a Philippine custom-software engineering firm that builds compliance-aware accounting, invoicing, and payroll systems for PH businesses — so the obligations that start the moment you receive Form 2303 are handled correctly in software, not in spreadsheets. When the BIR changes a rule (as RA 11976 changed registration and invoicing), the right system reflects it without you re-learning the form.

If you are scaling past manual books, a computerized accounting system or a BIR-registered e-invoicing setup removes a lot of recurring risk: correct receipt/invoice formats, accurate books, and returns that reconcile to what you actually issued. Orkids engineers these around your real operations and your COR-mandated tax types, rather than forcing your business into a generic tool.