HOW I REGISTERED AS FREELANCER AT BIR RDO 40 CUBAO

After acquiring my occupational permit and waiting for my RDO transferred from RDO 88 Tacloban  to RDO 40 Cubao, I immediately processed my requirements.

Listed below are the requirements I submitted. I'm posting pictures for your guidance on what they look like and how I filled-in the forms.



1) BIR 1901 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION (2 copies)

This document consists of 2 pages. It should be validated by their Officer of the Day.

In the second page, I included my daughter as dependent for purpose of claiming additional exemption of Php 25,000 pesos when I file my Annual Income Tax Return.

2) ANNUAL REGISTRATION FEE  (2 copies of form 0605 and proof of payment)

We are required to fill in payment form 0605. I am an EFPS (Electronic Filing Payment System) filer. So, my form is different from the one filed manually.

My payment is done through bank transfer, so my proofs of payment are:

a)  BIR's payment instruction to BPI
b) BPI's notice that they received my payment

If you are a manual filer, your proof of payment will be the deposit slip stamped by the BIR AAB (Authorized Agent Bank).


3) OCCUPATIONAL PERMIT

Note: Please refer to my post on how I acquired my occupational permit at Quezon City Hall.


4) NSO BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF TAXPAYER AND DEPENDENT (2 Copies)

I did not include photos of these documents anymore because you already know what NSO-certified documents look like.

If you are a freelancer planning to register, you will be required to submit the same documents mentioned above. In my case, I am a transferee. So, BIR RDO 40 asked for other requirements:

a) Certificate of No Tax Liability from old RDO
b) Transfer of RDO and Tax Clearance documents
Note: Kindly refer to my blog entry on transfer of RDO:

I did not highlight the documents under other requirements because my case is isolated and my blog entry focuses on how I registered as freelancer at my new RDO.

After submitting these documents last January 29, 2015, my new Certificate of Registration was released the next day, January 30, 2015. I was not asked to attend the taxpayers briefing anymore because I am a transferee and I already attended the same briefing at my old RDO.

My new RDO issued me the following:


1) Certificate of Registration

They actually used the same paper with my old RDO. Perhaps BIR issues the same paper for their certificates nationwide. My new RDO uses better ink though, compared to my old RDO which uses dot matrix printer in printing certificates.

2) Ask for Receipt Poster

Oh, yes. Like my what my old RDO requires me to do, my new RDO also requires me to issue receipts to my withholding agent, Bizmates.

After they released  my COR, I was required to do the following within 30 days from January 29, 2015 (my date of registration):

1) Register books of accounts (Form 1905)
2) Secure receipts (Form 1906)

I even took a picture of their instructions.

Since, I was already at their office, I decided to register my book of accounts to save time from coming back.


Source:

Tax Guide for Professionals

HOW I ACQUIRED MY OCCUPATIONAL PERMIT AT QUEZON CITY HALL

         Most companies would require their employees to secure occupational permit as requirement to practice their occupation. As a freelance professional, I secured an occupational permit not only to practice my profession but also to secure a new Certificate of Registration at the Bureau of Internal Revenue RDO 40 Cubao.

          Getting an occupational permit at Quezon City Hall is not easy, compared to Tacloban City Hall, Makati City Hall and other jurisdiction. The queue and red tape may be discouraging. Waiting in line may be laborious but your efforts would pay off once you get your occupational permit. Now, I am writing this blog entry to help the prospect applicants secure the documents that they need and save them time from asking people from the City Hall who do not even give clear directions (some are friendly actually).

STEP 1: SECURE CEDULA, POLICE CLEARANCE or NBI CLEARANCE, and LABORATORY TEST RESULT AT CITY HEALTH or OTHER ACCREDITED LABORATORIES

         These are the following documents I obtained. I included the fees and waiting time, for your guidance.

DOCUMENT	FEE	WAITING TIME
Barangay Clearance	Free of Charge Note: Some barangays charge Php30.00 for issuance and Php15.00 for the documentary stamp.	seconds
Cedula	Php 55 Note: I acquired my cedula at our Barangay Hall. The fee will vary depending on the amount of income you declared for the preceding year.	seconds
Police Clearance             (or NBI Clearance)	Php 250 Breakdown: I paid Php 150 for the issuance of police clearance and P100 for the ID, which is valid for one year. You may actually opt for NBI Clearance which cost P115.	1 to 2 hours
Laboratory Test   Result	P120 Note: You will have your stool and sputum examined. They sell containers for Php5 each for your specimens.	15 to 30 minutes

In order to secure NBI clearance, you will need at least 2 valid IDs with address in Quezon City. On the other hand, getting a police clearance only requires 1 valid ID with address in Quezon City. If you don't have one, a barangay clearance will do. My driver's license is still addressed in Tacloban City, so I had to secure a barangay clearance from the barangay hall. They asked me for proof of billing with my name on it. I presented original copies of my bank statement and internet bill that is why they issued me the document. I acquired cedula at the barangay hall, too so there's no need to acquire cedula at the city hall anymore. 

While waiting for your police clearance you may go to any nearby accredited laboratory to have your stool and sputum examined. I chose Gilcare Diagnostics because of its short waiting time. I did not choose City Health because I've read in some blogs that getting the applicants' specimens examined and waiting for the result there takes forever.

Update 02-04-2019: There are non-QC residents getting getting their occupational permit at QC Hall because they work in QC. When I applied for NBI Clearance at Ali Mall last 2016 using my drivers' license with address from Tacloban City, it was accepted.

 STEP 2: SECURE ORDER OF PAYMENT FOR MAYOR'S PERMIT and HEALTH CERTIFICATE

After obtaining the documents, you are ready to get your order of payment at the tent in front of Land Bank.There are separate lines for getting order of payments for Mayor's Permit and Health Certificate, respectively. It took me almost an hour to wait in each line.

STEP 3: PAY AT THE CITY TREASURER'S CASHIER

The City Treasurer's cashier is located near Landbank. It took me more than an hour to wait in line just to pay. I paid Php170 for Mayor's Permit and Php94 for the Health Certificate.

STEP 4: SECURE APPLICATION FORM FOR OCCUPATIONAL PERMIT 

Oh, yes. After paying at the City Treasurer's Cashier,  I had to go back to the same tent in front of Landbank just to fall in line for the application form. I waited for less than an hour to fall in line for a piece of paper. It would be too late to complain because I am a step away to get my occupational permit.

Oh, and by the way, the Quezon City Hall website says you can actually download the form to avoid the long queue. I did not notice any applicants filling up a downloaded form so I just followed what they did by falling in line. Here's a copy of a downloaded application form.

STEP 5: HAVE YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT THE BUSINESS PERMIT LICENSING OFFICE 

I actually fell in line for less than 30 minutes, so it was okay.  I met a beauty consultant from Revlon who happened to be processing her occupational permit, too. Her name is Adele and she works in Ortigas. Having our picture taken was quick.

STEP 6: WAIT FOR THE RELEASE OF YOUR OCCUPATIONAL PERMIT AT THE BASEMENT

Well, we waited for more than 2 hours for the release of our occupational permit which I did not mind at all because we were given the chance to sit down.  So, while waiting for the document, Adele and I had a long conversation. The security guard in charge of the release was actually very nice. So, here's what an occupational permit issued by Quezon City looks like.

  

Notice the discrepancies with the amount I paid at the City Treasurer's cashier and the amount indicated in my occupational permit.

DOCUMENT	ACTUAL AMOUNT PAID AT THE CITY TREASURER’S CASHIER	AMOUNT INDICATED IN THE OCCUPATIONAL PERMIT
Mayor’s Permit	Php 170	Php 150
Health Certificate	Php 94	Php 50

A total discrepancy of Php 64.00! Actually, the small amount is no big deal to me that is why I did not contest that small discrepancy. However, it crossed my mind that if we would consider the number of taxpayers getting an occupational permit every year, then Quezon City would raise a lot of revenue.

Anyway, to those who came across my blog entry, please do not  be discouraged with the process I went through because by the time you apply for occupational permit, you might not experience the hours of waiting I went through. One reason why it took two days to process my occupational permit is because I applied on January 2015. January is the month when employees would also renew their permits and they are required to renew before January 31. Meaning to say, there was plenty of people. The process would also depend on your City Hall. I've heard that the processes in Makati and Bulacan are faster, compared to Quezon City.

To our Business Processing and Licensing Division, I have suggestions which I highly recommend as a taxpayer of Quezon City. If you come across my blog, I hope you consider my constructive criticism. The problem is the difficulty in processing our occupational permit. I see the root cause in the unnecessary queues. The taxpayers need to fall in line five times,to wit:

1) Get order of payment for mayor's permit.

2) Get order of payment for health certificate.

3) Pay at the City Treasurer's cashier.

4) Get application form for occupational permit.

5) Have our picture taken at BPLO building and wait for the release of the occupational permit.

So, here are my suggestions: The queues in numbers 1 and 2 can be consolidated in one queue and there's no need for a queue in number 4 anymore. I suggest that application forms should be readily available with the security guard just like SSS, BIR and other government agencies. Your website provided a link to download the application form for printing and that's good. In cases of long queues, a personnel should check the requirements of applicants waiting in line to see whether they are complete or not. I noticed some applicants who fell in line for nothing because they lack requirements. Remember, these people are taxpayers too. We contribute a lot in raising revenue for Quezon City. So, I suggest for your division to assist us by restructuring the process in getting permits especially during peak times. If Quezon City is promoting Anti-Red Tape, you can start by eliminating the unnecessary queues.  

Update 02-04-2019: To avoid the long queue, I renewed my occupational permit  from 2016 to 2017 at around November or December. Because very few people would transact at QC Hall during those months, I was able to get my occupational permit in less than an hour. I quit my work from home last year and I'm now with a new employer at QC which requires occupational permit as pre-employment requirement. So, I applied for occupational permit on the last week of May 2018, a non-peak season. Because I already have my cedula and NBI clearance, I was able to secure my occupational permit in approximately one hour.

Source:

http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php/qc-services/requirements-a-procedures/504-occupational-permit


Intellectual Property
All Rights Reserved 2015

HOW I PROCESSED MY TRANSFER OF RDO (A FREELANCER'S HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE)

       

          Most of the internet articles I've read on transfer of Revenue District Office (RDO) are written by employees who had their RDO transferred from their old RDO to their new RDO. Going back to the basics, an employee’s RDO should be the same to that of his employer’s RDO for tax payment and reporting purposes. The first time I processed my transfer of RDO was last November 2009. My RDO was registered in RDO 40 -Cubao. Instead of flying to Manila to have my RDO transferred to RDO 88 -Tacloban, I filled-up BIR Form 1905 and faxed the same form to BIR Cubao. The transfer to Tacloban City took 5 working days.

Now, why am I writing this blog entry?

         As a self-employed professional (otherwise called freelancer), the process I went through in transferring my RDO from RDO 88 to RDO 40 needed to be done personally, especially that there were documents that I needed to surrender. So, the process I went through last January 2015 was a little more tedious than the simple transfer I experienced last 2009. I am writing this blog for the benefit of those who want to continue their business or practice of profession in a place different from their registered address, either within the same RDO or different RDO.

Some of you might even wonder why I had to transfer my RDO considering that I am teaching online, meaning I can teach anywhere. So, why transfer?

          To answer your questions, read on.

          After taking the Philippine Bar Exams during the four Sundays of October 2014, I continued teaching English online, not in Tacloban City but here in Cubao, Quezon City. I also thought of applying at Business Process Outsourcing providers or law firms that offer positions for law graduates. My future employer would require me to transfer RDO anyway, so I followed my mother's advice to have my RDO transferred to avoid hindrance with my future applications. If ever I get employed while keeping my job as a homebased online English trainer, I will be classified as a mixed income earner.

What are the steps I went through in processing the transfer of my RDO? What are the requirements that my old BIR RDO asked me to secure?

          Since I needed to change address from Tacloban City to Cubao, Quezon City, my old RDO required me to process my tax clearance, too. Meaning to say, aside from processing my transfer, I needed to have my business closed in Tacloban City so that I can process new registration in Cubao, Quezon City. I started processing my tax clearance by getting the list of requirements last January 5, 2015.  There were gaps in between because some persons at the BIR who could address my concern were on leave. Moreover, January was the time for business owners to renew their business licenses at Tacloban City Hall that is why it took me two days to wait for my Certificate of Retirement, a requirement for my tax clearance. I was able to complete my requirements in the morning of January 12, 2015. Because of the complete documents and complete BIR personnel, I was able to process my tax clearance at the BIR in one day.

Listed below are the requirements BIR Tacloban asked me to comply:

1. Completely filled BIR 1905

          Here's how I filled up BIR Form 1905. For Part II REASON FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION UPDATE, I marked the following boxes with  X:  Box C - Cessation of Registration and Box E - Change in Registered Activities. Under 4E Change in Registered Address, I marked Box 1 - Transfer of Home RDO from Old RDO 88 to New RDO 40. I also included my new registered address, the place where I practice my profession now.

2. Letter Request for Cessation of Business

          Yes, I needed to write a letter too. If I could turn back time, I could have addressed it to Mr. Ricardo J. Osorio, the Revenue District Officer. When I was writing this letter, I do not know where to address my letter so I just wrote: To Whom It May Concern. To those applying for Tax Clearance, please do not follow what I did. It would be better to know the name of the recipient. If you do not know his or her name, it's safe to address him or her: Dear Sir or Ma'am. That's what I learned in formal e-mail writing, which applies to formal letter writing.

3. Certificate of Retirement from LGU

          Gone were the days when BIR would not require Certificate of Retirement from our City Hall when processing tax clearance. Before, you can process your tax clearance with the BIR while processing your closure of business with the City Hall. Nowadays, you cannot process your tax clearance with the BIR unless you have this document. In short, the taxpayer needs to process his closure of business with the City Hall first. I got this document by simply writing a communication letter to the Office of the Mayor that I won't renew my occupational permit in Tacloban City anymore because I transferred residence from Tacloban City to Cubao, Quezon City.

4. Existing BIR Certificate of Registration (for Surrender)

I had to surrender this one so that I could get a new one in Cubao.


5. Ask for Receipt Poster (for Surrender)

I had to surrender this too, for the same reason.


6. Inventory of Unused Receipts

          There's actually almost the same document which I saw from the internet: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bir.gov.ph%2Fimages%2Fbir_files%2Fold_files%2Fothers%2F70534List%2520of%2520Unused-Expired%2520ORsSIsCIs_Annex%2520D.docx&ei=euTYVLnbOoiU8QX90YH4AQ&usg=AFQjCNFg3uNIfLxT5cPEEeG055vxTDSPzQ&sig2=0-c-0WGE_6hmfAN2jOcbcA&bvm=bv.85464276,d.dGc

          I actually downloaded and printed it but the BIR Officer told me not to use it. She asked me to make my own inventory of unused receipts. Instead of arguing with her, I just copied from the same document I downloaded and modified it a little. They accepted it anyway.

7. Unused Receipts for cancellation

          BIR destroyed my unused receipts for my protection. Since I applied for Cessation of Business, these had to be destroyed to avoid malicious persons from using them, like who knows? Illegal transactions? I brought them home for disposal, however I kept one destroyed booklet as sample.

          I brought the sample to a BIR-accredited printer here in Cubao so that they can design the lay-out of my receipts. BIR Cubao won't allow printers to use the newsprint type of papers. The printer will use white bond papers for my receipts. Oh well, I can't wait to get my new receipts printed.

8. Other documents which BIR required me to fill-up in 3 copies: 

a. Application for Tax Clearance

b. Indorsement Annex E

c. Verification Slip

d. Transfer Commitment Form Annex F (Notarized)

          I did not include the photos of the mentioned documents anymore because I do not think these would be necessary. Besides, my case is unique and you will only need to fill-up these forms if BIR requires you. If you do not have any open cases, then you would have no problem processing your tax clearance. I actually had an open case. According to the system, I was not able to file my Annual Income Tax Return for the year 2013. I showed them proof of filing and overpayment and they recognized their BIR stamp. They cancelled my open case.

          Oh, and by the way, BIR also issued me Certificate of No Outstanding Tax Liability. I had to pay Php 100 for the certification fee and Php 15 for the documentary stamp. I don't mind paying, as long as I could present proof to my new RDO that I have no open cases in my old RDO.

          I took the flight to Manila the next day, January 13, 2015. Usually, the transfer of RDO takes 5 working days. In my case, it took two weeks probably because of the papal visit. While waiting for my RDO to be transferred, I applied for Occupational Permit at Quezon City Hall. So, wait for my next blog entry.

UP NEXT: Getting an Occupational Permit at Quezon City Hall.

Intellectual Property
All Rights Reserved 2015