Receipt Renewal Experience

I haven’t written anything here for nearly a year because I discontinued my one-photo-a-day series after over a decade. Like most of you, I am tired of this pandemic; I lost three dear friends and my paternal grandfather to COVID-19; may their souls rest in peace. 🙏

Apologies for the gloomy introduction; let me now talk about something we self-employed professionals must do every five years: renew our receipts! Actually, receipt renewal should be done every 4 years and 10 months or at least 60 days before the validity date ends. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay a fine of 1K, and an even bigger one, depending on how late you renew. One of the biggest penalties is 21K if expired receipts are issued!

Before I went to my RDO, I prepared the following:

1. all my receipt booklets (10), both used and unused; I also removed the copies meant for the client/customer.
2. a copy of a valid ID with three signatures
3. a copy of the last page of the tenth booklet; since this is my first set, the last one is receipt #500.
4. a copy of my COR
5. a copy of the 1906 form I accomplished almost 5 years ago. If you don’t have this anymore, don’t fret. It’s printed on the last part of each booklet, so you can just have that photocopied.
6. cash 😂

Once you’re at the RDO, do the following:

1. Get a number for the ATP (Authority to Print receipts/invoices) counter, and wait for it to be called.
2. Show your receipts to the BIR officer. He/she will check the validity date first.
3. If you renew on time, submit the copies of your ID, last booklet page, and depending on the officer, COR. I wasn’t asked for the last one, but I know another tutor who submitted it. For late renewals, you’ll have to pay a penalty first, which means you’ll have to fill out a 0605 form. I do not know if this has to be paid at a bank or if you can pay at the actual RDO, but let’s hope you won’t have to! Make sure to renew early, so check your receipts!
4. You may be asked to find a receipt printing company or in my case, the officer recommended one, with its details already on the 1906 form. I agreed with the recommendation and filled out the rest of the form (name, business name, contact info, etc.). After submitting that to the officer, I was asked to wait. After a few minutes, someone else called me and asked me to pay P1500 for a fresh set of 10 booklets. I was told to wait for 2-3 weeks for my new receipts; I just have to ask the printing company for updates. That’s it! Done in an hour, tops!
5. If you choose to find your own printer: a fellow tutor was asked to get a Special Power of Attorney before going to an accredited company. Fortunately, there is one near our RDO, so it’s still convenient. Another tutor said that the printer she chose asked for a copy of the original 1906 form, that’s why I prepared it as well.

Some more tips, based on other tutors’ experiences:

1. Eat before going to your RDO because you may have to wait for a long time. Bringing snacks and/or drinks is also advisable.
2. Better to go in the morning; in my experience, there were much fewer people at that time. I got my queue number at 8:06 AM.
3. Be prepared; make sure you have all the requirements! Oh, and some tutors were asked to cut/destroy the remaining receipts, so better bring a pair of scissors. I was ready for this, but surprisingly, I wasn’t asked to do so.
4. Wear comfy clothes and shoes, in case you have to walk to a bank, law office, and/or printing company.
5. Be patient! 😊

We don’t know where we’ll be in nearly five years, but this will definitely serve as a guide in case we have to renew receipts again. Until then, stay safe and healthy!👌

2018 Project 365, Day 317: 3rd Quarter 1701Q

Photo #317: November 13

Third quarter 1701Q: filed and paid. For RareJob tutors: June + July + August gross tutor fees, received in July, August, and September respectively. If this is your 2nd time to pay taxes this year, make sure to also fill out box numbers 56 & 57. Deadline: November 15. #taxtales

2018 Project 365, Day 130: 1701Q!

Completed another adulting task today: filing my 1701Q for the 1st quarter of 2018! Because of the tax developments due to the TRAIN law, filing is a bit different this year. Here’s a guide for those of you who are like me, a registered self-employed professional, and provided you submitted the necessary requirements to avail of the lower withholding tax rate. The information is based on my RDO, 045 – thanks to Tutor NikkiB for clarifying! 🙂

1. Download the latest version of the EBIR Package HERE. (7.1)
2. Fill out the necessary information such as your name, TIN, business, etc.
3. Click the drop-down menu for the list of forms and choose BIR Form 1701Qv2018 Quarterly Income Tax Return for Individuals, Estates, and Trusts (NEW).
4. On page 1, choose 11017 Income from Profession – 8% Rate. Once you do, the second option in box 16 Tax Rate will be automatically ticked: 8% on gross sales/receipts… 
5. On page 2, under Schedule II – For IT 8% Rate, input your gross income for the first quarter (47A). For RareJob tutors (sole income is from RJ), this is the sum of our December 2017, January 2018, and February 2018 tutor fees, which we received in January, February, and March respectively. Then in box 52A, input 250, 000 (allowable reduction).
6. Click validate to check if you have completed the form, submit, and that’s it! Make sure to do this by May 15!!! 😉

2017 Project 365, Day 250: 2551M Cheat Sheet

Photo #250: September 7

Because filing our 2551Ms is confusing, I finally made this “cheat sheet.” May we never get tired of reminding and asking each other about what to include in our BIR forms.

2551M: Monthly Percentage Tax (Amendment)

Hello! If you’ve been following my blog, you already know that I finally registered as a self-employed professional just last January. As such, one of the responsibilities I have is to pay the Monthly Percentage Tax (MPT), which is 3% of my gross income as an online English tutor. So far, I’ve filed & paid for 3 months (Jan-March 2017), but I had to amend them, leading to this blog post.

Alright, a little background about my job’s salary system: we only get paid once a month, but we can request for cash advance, so many tutors still get paid bimonthly. 10% of our gross income is withheld. Now here’s the tricky part: our salary for this month will be distributed in the following month. For example, my earnings for December 2016 were deposited in January 2017, then my January income was given in February, and so on. Hence, the generated 1st quarter 2307 (Certificate of Creditable Tax Withheld) from my job’s website reflects my December 2016-February 2017 gross income & withheld tax. This is where I saw a discrepancy.

The 2551Ms I filed in February, March, and April where actually for my January, February, and March salaries respectively. This means, the total income I have for the three 2551Ms is different from the one reflected in my 2307. In filing my 1701Q (Quarterly Income Tax), an accountant advised me to input the total income as reflected in my filed 2551Ms, but for the withheld tax, he told me to copy what’s in my 2307.

Since I still wasn’t sure if what I did was correct, I decided to visit my RDO along with my fellow tutor and one of my best friends, Tutor NikkiB (her blog is also quite informative). A BIR officer advised us to request for a change of our 2307 from our company. I tried, but they told me to simply amend my 2551Ms and 1701Q. To be sure, I had to ask a lot of people for help to smoothen out my 1st quarter, and I’m deeply grateful to all of them. Therefore, this blog post is my way of paying it forward, in case you also need to amend your 2551Ms and/or 1701Q.

So how did I amend these files? I’m assuming you already have the latest e-BIR Forms software, version 6.3. Input your TIN, and the program will automatically show your saved data. Choose 2551M from the drop down menu of forms and click “fill-up.” From this point on, kindly refer to the red boxes in the following screenshot:

Box #1: Same as your previously filed 2551M, but this time click “Yes” for “Amended Return?” Also, tutor Manilyn.RO said to input the number of 2307 files you have, depending on how many companies/employers withheld tax from you. In my case, it’s only 1.

Box #2: Since this is my 2551M for January 2017, I had to input my December 2016 gross income, as reflected in my 2307 for the first quarter of this year. Then my January & February gross salaries for the February and March 2551Ms respectively. For further reference, this coming May, the income I will indicate is what I earned for March since I will be submiting the April 2551M.

Box #3: Here, I typed in the MPT I originally paid – just check your previously filed 2551M for the same month. If the automatically computed tax is less than what you previously paid, then you’ll have go to your RDO first. Bring 3 copies of the amended form, ask the officer of the day to stamp/sign it, then pay the amount (with interest) at any BIR-accredited bank of your RDO. I had to amend my March 2551M (February salary), and I had to pay an extra P7.39 as interest. If the computed tax is more than what you originally paid, check the 4th red box.

Box #4: You may click either, but if you want a refund…. hmmm, from what I heard, it’s nearly impossible to get back, so it’s recommendable to click “To be issued as a tax credit certificate.” Just keep a copy of your amendment form/s, no need to go to your RDO if it’s negative.

Still not clear? Here’s a summary:

• Follow the same step of filing the 2551M but this time, indicate the correct amount to be filed.
• Make sure to click “Yes” for “Amended Return?” on the top part and indicate the period to be amended.
• Indicate the correct taxable amount & the amount paid from the previously filed 2551Ms; you’ll know if there’s any overpayment or underpayment of tax. Go to your RDO for computation of interest/penalty, stamping, and then pay if underpaid.
• File/submit 3 amended returns via the eBIR package, one for each month (Jan-Feb-Mar).

As for my 1701Q, I needed to amend line 26 only. This time, the total earnings reflected in my 2307 and amended 2551Ms match. The amount in lines 38 G/H and 38 I/J is the same since I already input the correct tax withheld as per my 2307 in my previously filed 1701Q.

Don’t forget to validate and submit your amended forms! You’ll be receiving an automatically-generated response from the BIR via email.

Anyway, hope this clears things up, especially for my fellow RareJob tutors. Aaaaand in case you’re interested to be an online English tutor, register now! 🙂

2017 Project 365, Day 55: Official Receipt

Photo #55: February 24

Not sure if I will ever use the 10 booklets of receipts I ordered (after declaring and registering myself as a self-employed professional), but I was pretty impressed when I saw them. It’s like saying, hello, I’m legit! =p

2017 Project 365, Day 31: BIR Form 2303

Photo #31: January 31

And I’m done! I’m officially registered as a self-employed professional, which means I need to pay the monthly percentage tax starting this February, which is 3% of whatever I will have earned this January. I’m kind of annoyed knowing I already have 10% withholding tax every month, but hey, it’s for the country’s future, right? RIGHT???!!! Hahahaha =p I’m working on a full blog entry about my experience! Watch out for it! 😀