BIR Form 1905: Update, Transfer, or Close Your BIR Registration

BIR Form 1905 is the Application for Registration Information Update/Correction/Cancellation. It is the form you file with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) whenever something in your existing taxpayer record changes after you first registered. You do not use Form 1901, 1902, or 1903 again for these changes; those are for initial registration. Form 1905 is the after-registration form that keeps your BIR record accurate.

Think of Form 1905 as the single front door for almost every registration change an individual or business can make: moving your records to a different Revenue District Office (RDO), changing your registered address, correcting your name or civil status, adding or removing a tax type, changing your accounting period, replacing a lost or damaged Certificate of Registration (Form 2303) or TIN card, registering or transferring books of accounts, and closing or cancelling a business registration.

The current version is the October 2025 ENCS (Encoded) form published on the BIR website. Always download the latest version from bir.gov.ph rather than reusing an old printout, because the BIR revises the layout and the checkbox options when rules change (for example, after the Ease of Paying Taxes Act removed the annual registration fee). Filing an outdated version can get your application bounced.

You need to file Form 1905 any time your registered information no longer matches your real situation, or when you want the BIR to update, correct, cancel, or replace something in your record. The most common trigger by far is an RDO transfer, because your records must physically sit in the RDO that has jurisdiction over your home or business address.

For employees, the classic case is changing jobs. Your TIN follows you for life, but your RDO does not move automatically. If your new employer is registered under a different RDO, your record must be transferred there so your withholding tax, BIR Form 2316, and alphalist entries are filed in the right district. Many onboarding delays trace back to a TIN still sitting in an old RDO.

For self-employed individuals and businesses, you file Form 1905 when you relocate, rebrand, add a line of business with a new tax type, shift from monthly percentage tax to VAT (or vice versa), change your fiscal year, lose your COR, or shut down. Filing promptly matters: leaving open tax types or an un-transferred record produces 'stop-filer' notices and open-case penalties even when you have no actual activity.

Common reasons to file Form 1905

1. Transfer your registration to a new RDO (new job, business relocation, or change of home address)
2. Change your registered address within the same RDO
3. Update civil status, registered name, or correct a clerical error in your record
4. Add, change, or drop (end-date) tax types such as VAT, percentage tax, or withholding
5. Change your accounting period or fiscal year
6. Replace a lost, damaged, or destroyed Certificate of Registration (Form 2303) or TIN card
7. Register, re-register, or transfer books of accounts
8. Close or cancel a business and end-date all related tax obligations

Form 1905 is one form with many checkboxes, so the same document handles very different requests. The table below maps the most common scenarios to what you tick on the form and what the BIR does on its end. In every case you are notifying the BIR and asking it to update its database; for replacements and closures, the BIR also issues or cancels documents.

To transfer your RDO, file Form 1905 with the RDO that currently holds your record (your old RDO), or use the BIR Online Registration and Update System (ORUS) where the RDO-transfer facility is available. The transfer moves your TIN record from the old district to the new one so all future filings post correctly. For employees, your new employer often initiates or assists with this; for the self-employed and businesses, you do it yourself.

There are two practical paths in 2026. The online path through ORUS lets eligible taxpayers request an update or change of RDO code without visiting an office, provided your email is already registered with the BIR for ORUS. The manual path is filing the printed form at your old RDO. The BIR has been steadily shifting registration updates online, so check ORUS first; fall back to the manual process if your case is not yet supported online.

RDO transfer: ordered process

1. Confirm your current RDO. Use the BIR TIN/RDO verification channels or check an old COR/BIR document to find the RDO code where your record currently sits.
2. Identify your destination RDO. This is the RDO with jurisdiction over your new employer, new business address, or new home address.
3. Download the latest Form 1905 (October 2025 ENCS) from bir.gov.ph and fill in your TIN, name, and the transfer details; tick the 'Change of Registered Address / Transfer of Home or Business RDO' option.
4. Prepare supporting documents: one valid government ID, and for representatives a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) plus valid IDs of both parties. Businesses add proof of the new address and updated mayor's/DTI/SEC documents where applicable.
5. Submit via ORUS if the RDO-transfer facility is open to you (log in, choose Update Information, upload documents, submit), or file the printed Form 1905 at your OLD RDO and keep the receiving copy stamped by the officer.
6. Wait for the transfer to be processed (commonly several business days). The old RDO releases your record and the new RDO receives it.
7. Verify completion. Confirm your TIN now shows the new RDO before filing returns or onboarding payroll, so withholding and Form 2316 are filed in the correct district.

Most Form 1905 updates are free. There is no longer an annual registration fee to settle when you update, because Republic Act No. 11976 (the Ease of Paying Taxes Act) removed the ₱500 Annual Registration Fee in 2024. Do not let anyone tell you that an information update costs ₱500; standard updates like RDO transfers, address changes, name corrections, tax-type changes, and closures are processed at no charge.

The small fees that do exist are for documents, not for the update itself. Replacing a lost Certificate of Registration carries a ₱30 documentary stamp tax. A request for a BIR certification relating to your registration may carry a fee of up to ₱100 plus documentary stamp tax. These are minor administrative charges, and exact amounts are confirmed at your RDO. Requirements vary by transaction, so bring originals and photocopies of everything relevant.

Below is a quick reference. Always confirm the current checklist with your RDO or the BIR Citizen's Charter, since requirements are periodically streamlined.

To close a business, file Form 1905 to cancel your registration and end-date every tax type attached to your TIN. Closure is not just walking away; until the BIR formally ends your obligations, the system keeps expecting returns and will generate open cases and penalties for every missed filing, even with zero activity.

Closure has two layers. First, you notify the BIR of the cessation using Form 1905, surrender any unused receipts/invoices for cancellation, present your books of accounts, and end-date your tax types. Second, the BIR may run an audit or short-period evaluation before issuing a tax clearance, and you must settle any liabilities and file the final returns covering the period up to closure. The registration cancellation closes the file only after these are cleared.

Sequence matters. Many owners close their local government permits first and forget the BIR, then get surprised by accumulated open cases years later. File the BIR closure promptly, keep your stamped receiving copy, and follow through until you receive confirmation that all tax types are end-dated.

Business closure: ordered process

1. File Form 1905 at your RDO indicating cancellation of registration and end-dating of tax types.
2. Surrender unused official receipts and invoices, plus the inventory list, for cancellation.
3. Present your registered books of accounts for the final period.
4. File and pay all final returns (income, VAT/percentage tax, withholding) up to the date of closure.
5. Cooperate with any short-period audit or evaluation the RDO conducts.
6. Settle any assessed liabilities and secure the tax clearance / certificate confirming closure.
7. Keep all stamped receiving copies and the clearance as proof the registration is formally cancelled.

File Form 1905 at the RDO that currently has jurisdiction over your record, or use ORUS where the relevant update facility is online. For an RDO transfer you generally start at your OLD (current) RDO, because that office must release your record before the new one can receive it. For other updates, file at the RDO where your record is registered.

ORUS (Online Registration and Update System) is the BIR's online channel for registration-related transactions, and it increasingly handles updates such as change/transfer of RDO code, address updates, and other information changes. To use ORUS you first need an enrolled email address linked to your TIN. If your email is not yet registered with the BIR, you submit the Registration Update Sheet (Form S1905) to your RDO to register or update your email, after which you can create your ORUS account and transact online.

Do not confuse the two forms. Form 1905 is the formal Application for Registration Information Update/Correction/Cancellation. Form S1905 (Registration Update Sheet) is a short sheet whose main job is to register or update the email you will use for ORUS. You may need S1905 first to unlock ORUS, then use ORUS (or a printed 1905) for the actual change.

The most expensive Form 1905 mistakes are silent ones: an un-transferred RDO that blocks payroll onboarding, a tax type that was never end-dated and keeps generating stop-filer cases, or a business closure that was filed at city hall but never with the BIR. Each of these surfaces months later as penalties, and they all stem from a registration record that quietly drifted out of sync with reality.

Other frequent errors include filing an outdated form version, filing an RDO transfer at the destination RDO instead of the old one, forgetting the affidavit of loss for a replacement COR, and missing the SPA when a representative transacts. Keeping a simple internal log of every TIN, RDO, registered address, and active tax type for the company and its employees prevents almost all of these.

Orkids builds custom software for Philippine businesses that keeps registration and compliance data structured and current. Instead of chasing CORs and RDO codes across spreadsheets, your HR and finance teams work from one accurate source: employee TINs and RDOs tied to onboarding, tax types tied to your filing calendar, and reminders when an address change, transfer, or closure should trigger a Form 1905. We design these systems around your real BIR workflow, not a generic template.