Expanding? Register the location before you open the door.
A second address is not covered by your head office papers. Every branch, warehouse and back office needs its own local permit and its own BIR registration — and whether sales happen there changes both the paperwork and the tax.
Start here
One question decides your whole checklist
Will any selling happen at this address — orders taken, invoices issued, customers paying? The BIR calls the first a branch and the second a facility, and treats them very differently.
Branch or sales office
Registered with the BIR as a branch, with its own invoice series and its own books. The LGU taxes the gross sales recorded at that address.
BIR and LGU requirements →Warehouse, plant or back office
Registered with the BIR as a facility — no invoice series, because nothing is sold. Still needs its own local business permit, and zoning is the hard gate.
BIR and LGU requirements →Three establishment types, three sets of paperwork
The sequence
Seven steps, and the order is not negotiable
The single most common expansion mistake is signing a lease before checking whether the address is zoned for what you intend to do there.
Check zoning, then sign the lease
Ask the city planning office whether your line of business is allowed at that address. A lease on a non-conforming address cannot be rescued with paperwork.
Barangay business clearance
From the barangay holding the new address, not the one holding your head office.
Locational clearance and occupancy
The zoning clearance in writing, plus an occupancy permit that matches the actual use of the space. Fit-out works usually need a building permit first.
Fire safety and sanitary inspection
A Fire Safety Inspection Certificate from the BFP and a sanitary permit for the premises. Food handling and personal services add health certificates for each worker.
Mayor’s or business permit for that LGU
Issued per location. Your head office permit does not extend to the new site, and the line of business you declare here sets the tax rate you pay.
BIR branch or facility registration
At the RDO with jurisdiction over the new address, using the same TIN with a new branch code — plus Form 1905 so head office records show the new establishment.
Books, invoices and POS — if sales happen there
A branch needs its own registered books, its own invoice series carrying the branch address, and each POS machine registered before it rings a single sale. A facility needs none of this.
Situs of tax
Which city gets to tax the sale?
The Local Government Code sets this out, and it is the part expanding businesses get wrong — usually by recording everything at head office and then being assessed twice.
Get the recording right at the point of sale and the allocation follows automatically. Get it wrong and two LGUs will each claim the same peso.
Quick answers
Do I need a separate business permit for each branch?+
Yes. A business permit is issued per location by the LGU that location sits in. Three branches in three cities means three permits, three barangay clearances and three January renewals.
Can the branch use head office receipts?+
No. Each branch issues invoices carrying its own address and its own serial series, from its own authority. Using head office documents at a branch is a standard audit finding.
Does a warehouse need a permit if nothing is sold there?+
Yes — both a local business permit and BIR facility registration. What changes is the tax treatment, not the requirement to register.
Will the branch get a new TIN?+
No. One taxpayer, one TIN. The branch is identified by a new branch code appended to it, and receives its own Certificate of Registration under that code.
Is there still an annual BIR registration fee per branch?+
The ₱500 annual registration fee was removed by the Ease of Paying Taxes Act. Registering each branch and facility is still compulsory — only the recurring fee is gone.
Tell us the address and what you plan to do there
We check the zoning before you commit, then run the barangay, LGU and BIR sequence and hand you the permit and the certificates.
Requirements vary by city and municipality, and rules change. Treat this page as a guide, not as advice on your specific case — confirm current requirements with us before you file.