Do I still have to pay the ₱500 BIR Annual Registration Fee? What changed for small businesses under the Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) Act?

Why

The old Section 236(B) of the National Internal Revenue Code imposed an annual registration fee of ₱500 for every separate establishment, payable on registration and every January after that. Section 34 of the Ease of Paying Taxes Act (Republic Act No. 11976, approved January 5, 2024) rewrote Section 236 without that subsection: registration is now done once, electronically or manually, on or before you start your business, and Subsection (B) now simply requires you to register each type of tax you are liable for. Sections 37 to 39 of the Act also removed the references to the annual registration fee from the Code's provisions on displaying your certificate, continuing a deceased owner's business, and moving your business to another location.

Registration is still mandatory. Under the amended Section 236(A), every person subject to an internal revenue tax must register within ten days from employment, on or before the commencement of business, before paying any tax due, or upon filing a return. If you move your place of business, you update your registration by filing an application for registration information update (Section 236(C)). Cancelling your registration is likewise done by filing an update application, though the BIR may still audit you afterwards.

Receipts became invoices. Section 237, as amended, now requires 'sale or commercial invoices' instead of official receipts. A non-VAT seller must issue one for each sale of ₱500 or more, may issue a single invoice at the end of the day for the aggregate of smaller sales if that total reaches ₱500, and must issue one regardless of amount when the buyer asks. VAT-registered sellers must issue a VAT invoice for every sale. The ₱500 threshold is adjusted every three years using the consumer price index, so check the current figure with the BIR. Under Section 238, the authority to print invoices is secured from the BIR free of charge.

Filing and payment are more flexible. Throughout the amended Code, returns may now be filed and taxes paid 'either electronically or manually' with any authorized agent bank, Revenue District Office through its Revenue Collection Officer, or an authorized tax software provider. The Act also classifies taxpayers by gross sales (Section 21(b)): micro is below ₱3 million, small is ₱3 million to below ₱20 million.

Micro and small taxpayers get specific concessions under Section 45 of the Act: an income tax return of at most two pages; a 10% civil penalty instead of the usual 25% under Section 248; a 50% reduction in the interest charged under Section 249; a reduced ₱500 fine for failure to file certain information returns; and a compromise penalty reduced by at least 50% for invoicing violations under Sections 113, 237 and 238. The Act does not reduce the taxes themselves: income tax and percentage tax or VAT are still due on time.