Top 10 BIR Forms Every Philippine Accountant Deals With

Ask any Philippine accountant what their work actually looks like day to day, and the honest answer is: forms. The same government forms, for the same clients, on the same recurring deadlines, all year long.

Here are the ten BIR forms that dominate that workload — what each one does, who files it, and when it’s due. If you’re new to practice, treat this as your map. If you’ve been doing this for years, skip to the end for the part about never re-typing a client’s TIN again.

1. BIR Form 2316 — Certificate of Compensation Payment/Tax Withheld

The Philippine equivalent of a W-2. Employers issue one to every employee, showing total compensation and tax withheld for the year. Due to employees by January 31; signed copies of substituted-filing employees go to the BIR by February 28. For firms serving multiple payroll clients, January means hundreds of these. We wrote a full guide: How to fill out BIR Form 2316 in minutes.

2. BIR Form 1601C — Monthly Withholding on Compensation

The most frequently filed form on this list — every employer files it every month (10th of the following month; eFPS filers are staggered on the 11th–15th). Even zero-withholding months require a filing. See our step-by-step 1601C guide.

3. BIR Form 0619E — Monthly Remittance of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld (Expanded)

The monthly remittance form for expanded withholding tax — rent, professional fees, contractor payments. Filed for the first two months of each quarter (the quarter ends with 1601EQ). Due the 10th of the following month for non-eFPS filers.

4. BIR Form 1601EQ — Quarterly Remittance of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld

The quarterly consolidation of expanded withholding tax, due the last day of the month following the quarter, with the Quarterly Alphalist of Payees (QAP) attached.

5. BIR Form 2307 — Certificate of Creditable Tax Withheld at Source

The certificate you issue to suppliers and professionals whose payments you withheld tax from — and the certificate your clients need to collect from their customers to claim tax credits. Small, simple, and filed in enormous volumes.

6. BIR Form 2550Q — Quarterly VAT Return

The quarterly VAT return for VAT-registered taxpayers, due 25 days after each quarter ends, with SLS/SLP summary lists transmitted via eSubmission. Since monthly 2550M was discontinued, this is the only VAT return. Full guide: BIR Form 2550Q: the complete guide to quarterly VAT filing.

7. BIR Form 2551Q — Quarterly Percentage Tax Return

The non-VAT counterpart of 2550Q: 3% percentage tax on gross receipts for taxpayers under the ₱3M threshold who didn’t elect the 8% income tax option. Also due 25 days after quarter end. Read our 2551Q guide.

8. BIR Form 1701Q — Quarterly Income Tax Return (Individuals)

Quarterly income tax for the self-employed, professionals, sole proprietors, and mixed-income earners. Due May 15, August 15, and November 15. Here’s how to file 1701Q step by step.

9. BIR Form 1701 / 1701A — Annual Income Tax Return (Individuals)

The annual return due April 15: 1701 for mixed-income earners and those on graduated rates with itemized deductions, 1701A for purely business/professional income on the 8% option or OSD. Our 1701 filing guide covers which one to pick.

10. BIR Form 1604C — Annual Information Return on Compensation

The year-end summary of all compensation withholding, due January 31 with the employee alphalist. It has to reconcile with twelve months of 1601C filings and every 2316 you issued — which is exactly why January is the worst month in Philippine accounting.

Put all ten on one calendar and the shape of the year is obvious:

The pattern behind all ten

Look at the list again and notice what these forms have in common. For any given client, the same data block appears on every single one: TIN, RDO code, registered name, registered address, line of business, contact details.

A firm with 20 clients filing the monthly and quarterly returns above re-encodes that identical block hundreds of times a year. None of that typing is accounting. All of it can produce a penalty if one digit lands wrong.

That’s the problem BoltPDF solves: store each client’s master data once, and prefill it into every recurring PDF form — BIR, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG — in seconds. You type the numbers that changed; the 80% that never changes is already filled.

Try BoltPDF free → Prefill once. Reuse forever.

BoltPDF is built for Philippine accounting firms that process government forms at volume. Learn more at boltpdf.com.