Starting a business

23 steps across 8 agencies

Four levels of government in a fixed order: your name, your barangay, your city, then BIR. Skipping ahead means being turned away.

Clocks that are already running

Business permit renewal: January each year
BMBE registration fee ceiling: ₱1,000.00
Certificate of incorporation lapses if unused: 5 years

Each is sourced on the guide it belongs to. This page states no figure of its own.

01First, decide what the business is

This one choice changes every step below it.

DTI business nameFor a sole proprietorship. Cheapest and fastest, but you and the business are the same legal person.SEC registrationFor a corporation, including a One Person Corporation. No minimum capital, and the term is now perpetual.BMBE registrationIncome tax exemption for a micro enterprise. Worth checking before you register anywhere else.

02Then clear your locality

The city will not issue a permit without the barangay, and the barangay is the cheaper queue.

Barangay clearanceThe first stop, and a prerequisite to the mayor's permit.Fire safety inspection certificateA BFP inspection is a statutory prerequisite to the permits a local government issues.Mayor's permitThe business permit itself, issued once the clearances above are in hand.

03Then register with BIR

Nothing here is optional, and the order matters.

BIR Form 1901Registration for a self-employed individual or a mixed income earner.Certificate of Registration, Form 2303The certificate you must display. It lists exactly which returns you are now obliged to file.Books of accountsRegistered before you start operating, not after your first busy month.Authority to printNeeded before receipts or invoices can be printed.

04Once you have staff

SSS employer registrationRequired before the first employee's contribution falls due.PhilHealth employer registrationThe employer share starts with the first payroll, not with your first profit.Pag-IBIG registrationThe third mandatory contribution, and the one most often forgotten because it is the smallest.

05What you now owe your staff

These are statutory minimums, not benefits you choose to give. They apply from the first employee, and none of them depends on the business being profitable.

Minimum wage in your regionSet by your regional wage board, not nationally. A rate from the next region over is not a defence.13th month payDue on or before 24 December, and no exemption or deferment is accepted.24 DecemberService incentive leaveFive days a year once an employee has served one year.Overtime and night differentialEvery rate in the Labour Code is prefaced with at least, so these are floors and not ceilings.Final payWithin 30 days of separation, whatever the reason an employee leaves.30 days

06Then you start filing

Registration created the obligations. These are the returns that discharge them.

The 8% option or graduated ratesA sole proprietor under three million gross chooses one. The choice changes what you file all year.Income tax return filingApril 15 annually, with quarterly returns in between.April 15eBIRFormsHow most small filers actually submit, and which of the 51 forms apply to you.

07Every January afterwards

Business permit renewalAn annual cycle with its own penalties for late filing.January

08If you wind it down

Closing badly is more expensive than closing. An unclosed BIR registration keeps accruing obligations.

Closing a business with the BIRFour routes depending on head office or branch, and on whether you have open cases.

What this page is

A route through guides this site already publishes, in the order the situation actually demands. It carries no sourcing band because it asserts nothing: every figure lives on the guide it links to, with its own source and its own verification date.

Related situations

Buying or selling propertyThe sale is the easy part. Moving the title into your name runs through BIR and two local offices, and every one of them has a deadline.I lost my jobThere is money you are owed by your employer, money you can claim from SSS or GSIS, and help you can apply for. They are three different queues.