If you earn online and you are not registered with the BIR, you are in very large company. Most people in this position did not decide to avoid tax. They started with one client, then another, and registration never felt urgent.
The seal badge made it feel urgent. The BIR now expects anyone earning online to show a registration badge with a QR code that verifies they are registered. The grace period for displaying it ended on October 31.
Here is what that actually changed, what it did not, and how to get registered properly from here.
What the deadline changed
The deadline ended a grace period. It did not create a new tax.
Under RMC 99-2026, the BIR said it would not penalise anyone solely for failing to display the badge until October 31, 2026. That protection is now over. The circulars do not name a specific fine for not displaying the badge, and we will not guess at one.
What is clear is this: the badge is only available to people who are registered. So the badge is not really the question. Registration is.
Who this covers
If you earn from your skills or your audience online, the rule is written for you. RMC 38-2026 names freelancers, bloggers, vloggers, live streamers, influencers and content creators, along with people earning from views, ads, affiliate commissions and sponsorships.
There is no exemption for earning a little or earning part-time. If you have been waiting until your income feels big enough to matter, the rule does not wait with you.
“I’ve already been earning for a while”
This is the question we hear most, and the honest answer is that it depends on your situation: how long, how much, and what records you have.
We have clients who registered after months, and some after years, of earning. In every case the starting point was the same: we heard the full story first, then advised on what to do about it. Registering now is almost always better than registering later, because the gap only grows.
The choice you make when you register
When you register as self-employed, you choose how your income will be taxed. Most freelancers choose between two options.
The 8% option. You pay 8% of your gross receipts above ₱250,000, and nothing else in income or percentage tax. It is available while your gross receipts stay at or below ₱3 million.
Graduated rates. You pay income tax on a sliding scale from 0% to 35%, plus a separate 3% percentage tax on your gross receipts. Most freelancers on this route claim a flat 40% deduction for expenses, called the optional standard deduction, instead of keeping receipts for every cost.
Once you choose for a taxable year, you cannot switch until the next one. If you register without choosing, you default to graduated rates.
Here is what that choice means in pesos. Paolo is a freelance video editor billing international clients about ₱1.2 million a year. Freelancing is his only income. His client’s finance team has asked for a BIR-registered invoice, so he is registering this month.
| 8% option | Graduated, 40% deduction | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount deducted before tax | ₱250,000 | ₱480,000 |
| Amount taxed | ₱950,000 | ₱720,000 |
| Income tax | ₱76,000 | ₱86,500 |
| Percentage tax (3%) | None | ₱36,000 |
| Total | ₱76,000 | ₱122,500 |
The same income, the same work, and a ₱46,500 difference that comes down to one box on one form. We worked the same choice through for a virtual assistant earning ₱600,000 in our registration guide. At Paolo’s income, the gap is wider.
The 8% option is not always the winner. Graduated rates can come out ahead for someone with large business expenses who keeps the records to claim them. That is exactly why the choice deserves a look at your actual numbers rather than a default.
How registration works now
Registration happens at the BIR office that covers where you live, called your Revenue District Office or RDO. The steps, in plain terms:
- Apply. You file BIR Form 1901, the application for self-employed registration, and choose your tax rate on it. If you already have a TIN from a past employer, it first gets moved to your RDO and updated to self-employed, using BIR Form 1905, the form for updating registration details.
- Receive your Certificate of Registration. This is the document that says what you are registered for and which returns you file. It typically takes one to two weeks.
- Register your books. These are the record books where your income is written down.
- Print your invoices. These are the documents you give clients when they pay you. They are printed by a BIR-accredited printer, which typically takes another one to two weeks after the certificate.
- Download your badge through the BIR’s online registration system, ORUS, and display it where you sell or promote your services.
Straight through, that is about a month. Government costs are small: the ₱500 annual registration fee was abolished in 2024, leaving a ₱30 documentary stamp tax. Books and invoice printing are the larger costs, usually ₱2,000 to ₱3,000 together.
What registering does not fix
Registration matches who you are today. It does not keep matching on its own.
If your receipts climb past ₱3 million, the 8% option is no longer available and VAT rules start to apply. If you take a salaried job while still freelancing, your returns change. Most of the expensive tax problems we see do not start with someone failing to register. They start when someone registered correctly years ago and their work changed while their registration did not.
Where to start
- Gather your documents: a government ID, and your TIN if you already have one.
- Know your rough annual income, so the tax-rate choice is made on real numbers.
- Register, or have it done for you, before your next client invoice is due.
If you would rather hand it over
Thumbtax handles BIR registration end to end. You send your documents and sign one authorisation, and we arrange the notary. We deal with your RDO, your certificate, your books, your invoices and your badge, and we make the tax-rate choice with you using your actual numbers.
When it is done, we walk you through every document on a call, including how to file on your own if you choose to. The service fee is ₱10,000, with registration costs paid at cost. It is open to anyone, and if your situation needs something different, we will tell you before we start.
Sources
- Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 38-2026, 29 April 2026: the BIR Registration Seal Badge for online businesses and digital earners, who must display it, and how it verifies registration
- Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 99-2026: the display deadline extended to 31 October 2026, with no penalty solely for non-display before that date
- Revenue Memorandum Order No. 23-2018: how the 8% option is chosen, that it cannot change within the year, and that graduated rates apply if no choice is made
- Section 24(A), National Internal Revenue Code, as amended by RA 10963 (TRAIN Law): graduated income tax rates from 1 January 2023, and the 8% option for self-employed individuals with receipts up to ₱3 million
- Revenue Regulations No. 16-2008: the 40% optional standard deduction
- Section 116, National Internal Revenue Code: the 3% percentage tax, back in force from 1 July 2023 after the temporary 1% rate ended
- RA 11976 (Ease of Paying Taxes Act) and Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 91-2024: the end of the ₱500 annual registration fee from 22 January 2024
- Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024: the invoice as the document for a sale of services
Paolo is an illustration, not a client. The tax rates and thresholds come from the issuances above; his income, the cost estimates and the timeline are ours. Costs vary by printer and RDO. This is general information, current as of November 2026, and not advice on your situation. Rules change.