Philippines
Philippines: 5 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in the Philippines
The 5 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Philippines is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Nickel ores and concentratesUS$1.8 bn · 36.3% of world exports of 59 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Coconut, palm-kernel and babassu oilCoconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modifiedUS$2 bn · 25.0% of world exports of 150 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Lignite, whether or not agglomerated, excluding jetUS$514 m · 5.2% of world exports of 66 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Philippines. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Philippines.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Philippines: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Philippines belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- ASEAN Free Trade Area (ATIGA)
- Free trade area · since 17 May 2010
Covers goods.
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ASEAN means the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which comprises Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar,
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- Free trade area · since 2 June 2023
Covers goods, services, investment.
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1 January 2022 Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 25%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Annual financial statements audited by an independent CPA; where total assets or total liabilities are under PHP 600,000 they are certified under oath by the treasurer or CFO instead.Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-10
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Annual financial statements audited by an independent certified public accountant
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Philippines, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- Not in our recordsThe tax authority’s pages have not been read for Philippines.
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Philippines, tax year taxable year 2025 (calendar year, returns filed 2026), as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 15 April · each year
the annual income tax return shall be filed on or before the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the taxpayer's taxable year — 15 April for a calendar-year taxpayer. The rule takes 15 April. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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This return shall be filed, with or without payment, on or before the 15th day of the 4th month following close of the taxpayer's taxable year.
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 15 April · each year
the annual income tax return is filed, with or without payment, on or before the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the taxable year (15 April for a calendar year), the balance being paid after crediting the quarterly income tax paid and creditable withholding tax. The rule takes 15 April. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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This return shall be filed, with or without payment, on or before the 15th day of the 4th month following close of the taxpayer's taxable year.
- Corporate tax, instalments
- 2 months after the end of the quarter · each quarter
the corporate quarterly income tax return is filed, with or without payment, within sixty (60) days following the close of each of the first three quarters of the taxable year — for a calendar year, by 30 May, 29 August and 29 November (moved to the next working day where these fall on a weekend). The rule records the two-month (60-day) period. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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The corporate quarterly income tax return shall be filed with or without payment within sixty (60) days following the close of each of the first three (3) quarters of the taxable year
- Personal income-tax return
- 15 April · each year
the annual income tax return shall be filed on or before 15 April of each year covering income for the preceding taxable year. An individual earning purely compensation income whose tax has been correctly withheld is not required to file (substituted filing). The rule takes 15 April. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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This return shall be filed on or before April 15 of each year covering income for the preceding taxable year.
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 15 April · each year
the annual return and the payment of the tax balance share the deadline, 15 April of the year following the taxable year, after crediting withholding tax and the quarterly income tax payments. The rule takes 15 April. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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This return shall be filed on or before April 15 of each year covering income for the preceding taxable year.
- Personal income tax, instalments
- 15 May · each quarter
the quarterly income tax return is filed by 15 May (first quarter), 15 August (second quarter) and 15 November (third quarter) of the current taxable year; there is no fourth-quarter return, the year being wrapped into the annual return. The record takes the first quarter, 15 May. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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1st qtr - On or before May 15 of the current taxable year 2nd qtr - On or before August 15 of the current taxable year 3rd qtr - On or before November 15 of the current taxable year
- VAT return
- 25 days after the end of the quarter · each quarter
the quarterly VAT return shall be filed not later than the 25th day following the close of each taxable quarter — 25 April, 25 July, 25 October and 25 January. A VAT-registered taxpayer also files a monthly VAT declaration (BIR Form 2550M) not later than the 20th day following the close of the month; the record takes the quarterly standard return. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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This return shall be filed not later than the 25th day following the close of each taxable quarter.
- Payroll withholding
- Day 10 of the following month · each month
an employer files the Monthly Remittance Return of Income Taxes Withheld on Compensation (BIR Form 1601-C) for each month. The non-eFPS filing and payment deadline is the 10th day of the month following the month of withholding; eFPS filers file by group on the 11th to 15th of the following month. The record takes the non-eFPS 10th. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
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BIR Form 1601-C (Monthly Remittance Return of Income Taxes Withheld on Compensation) - Non-eFPS Filers. Month of September 2026
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Philippines yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Philippines exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Philippines’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic integrated circuits HS 8542 | 29.0% | 29.1% | 23.8% | US$22.9 bn |
| Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, not elsewhere specified or included HS 8471 | 4.0% | 3.6% | 4.6% | US$4.4 bn |
| Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8470 to 8472 HS 8473 | 4.0% | 3.0% | 4.4% | US$4.3 bn |
| Insulated (including enamelled or anodised) wire, cable (including coaxial cable) and other insulated electric conductors, whether or not fitted with connectors; optical fibre cables, made up of individually sheathed fibres, whether or not assembled with electric conductors or fitted with connectors HS 8544 | 2.8% | 3.8% | 3.6% | US$3.4 bn |
| Gold (including gold plated with platinum), unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form HS 7108 | 7.1% | 3.3% | 3.2% | US$3.1 bn |
| Semiconductor devices (for example, diodes, transistors, semiconductor-based transducers); photosensitive semiconductor devices, including photovoltaic cells whether or not assembled in modules or made up into panels; light-emitting diodes (LED), whether or not assembled with other light-emitting diodes (LED); mounted piezo-electric crystals HS 8541 | 3.5% | 3.9% | 3.0% | US$2.9 bn |
| Electrical transformers, static converters (for example, rectifiers) and inductors HS 8504 | 2.6% | 2.9% | 2.8% | US$2.7 bn |
| Printing machinery used for printing by means of plates, cylinders and other printing components of heading 8442; other printers, copying machines and facsimile machines, whether or not combined; parts and accessories thereof HS 8443 | 2.1% | 2.4% | 2.6% | US$2.5 bn |
| Coconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified HS 1513 | 1.9% | 1.2% | 2.1% | US$2 bn |
| Electrical capacitors, fixed, variable or adjustable (pre-set) HS 8532 | 1.3% | 1.9% | 1.9% | US$1.8 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$96.2 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.