How to File BIR Form 1604C (Annual Information Return for Employers)

If you have employees, January comes with one very specific homework assignment. BIR Form 1604C Philippines filing is the annual information return that summarizes every peso of compensation tax you withheld all year. Here is the thing, this form does not ask you to pay anything new. It just confirms that your monthly withholding matches your year-end totals. Get the process right once, and every year after gets easier.

What Form 1604C Is and Who Files It

BIR Form 1604C Philippines requirements apply to you if you have employees and withhold tax from their compensation throughout the year. This is your annual information return, the summary document that ties together everything you already remitted monthly.

Think of it as your year-end report card. Every month, you filed BIR Form 1601-C to remit withholding tax on compensation. Form 1604C wraps up the whole year into one annual information return employer submission, confirming your totals match.

If you are new to managing payroll taxes, our BIR employer guide covers the basics of registering as a withholding agent. Our withholding tax guide explains how monthly remittances feed into this annual filing.

1604C Step by Step: How to File

Here is the actual process, from preparing your data to submitting the form.

Before You File

1. Reconcile your monthly BIR Form 1601-C filings against your actual payroll records for the full calendar year.
2. Complete year-end annualization for every employee, calculating their total taxable compensation and tax due for the year.
3. Issue BIR Form 2316, the Certificate of Compensation Payment, to every employee on or before January 31.
4. Download the Offline eBIRForms Package and the Alphalist Data Entry and Validation Module from the BIR eBIRForms page.

Filing the Form

1. Open the Alphalist Data Entry and Validation Module and encode every employee’s TIN, compensation details, and tax withheld.
2. Validate the Alphalist within the module to generate a .DAT file, which is a compressed data file the BIR system reads directly.
3. Open BIR Form 1604C in the eBIRForms Offline Package and fill in your year-end totals, making sure every figure matches your Alphalist.
4. Click Validate in eBIRForms to catch missing or incorrect entries before submission.
5. Click Submit to file the form online, then attach your validated Alphalist .DAT file separately as required.
6. Save your confirmation email or acknowledgment receipt as proof of filing.

There is generally no tax payment attached to Form 1604C itself, since your withholding taxes should already be fully remitted through your monthly 1601-C filings.

Filing Deadlines and Attachments Table

Requirement	What It Covers	Typical Deadline
BIR Form 1604C	Annual summary of compensation withholding tax	January 31 of the following year
Alphalist of Employees (.DAT file)	Required attachment listing every employee’s details	Filed together with Form 1604C
BIR Form 2316 to Employees	Certificate of Compensation Payment per employee	January 31 of the following year
Monthly BIR Form 1601-C	Ongoing monthly withholding tax remittance	Verify the latest deadline with the BIR website or ask BB for the most current information

These dates can shift if January 31 falls on a weekend or holiday, or if the BIR issues an extension. Verify the latest deadline with the BIR website or ask BB for the most current information before your filing date.

How to Pay Any Related Withholding Taxes via GCash

Form 1604C itself usually has no payment due, but your monthly 1601-C filings do. Here is how to settle those.

1. Prepare your accomplished BIR Form 1601-C with the computed withholding tax due for the month.
2. Go to the BIR online payment portal and select GCash as your payment channel.
3. Enter your TIN, the form type, and the exact tax period covered.
4. Confirm the amount and complete payment through your GCash app.
5. Save your payment confirmation, since your year-end 1604C totals must reconcile with every monthly payment you made.

Keeping every monthly confirmation organized makes your January reconciliation much faster.

Common Mistakes When Filing 1604C

These errors cause rejected submissions or unwanted BIR attention.

1. Using an outdated version of the Alphalist Data Entry Module, which can cause validation errors.
2. Letting your Alphalist totals not match your Form 1604C figures exactly, down to the peso.
3. Entering an incorrect or mismatched employee TIN, which can cause the whole submission to fail validation.
4. Forgetting that Form 2316 must go out to employees by the same January 31 deadline as the 1604C filing.
5. Waiting until January 30 to start annualization instead of beginning the reconciliation process earlier in the month.

A Filipino Example: Marisol’s Small Accounting Firm

Marisol runs a small accounting firm in Cebu with 8 employees, paying out a combined ₱480,000 in monthly compensation across her team.

Throughout the year, she filed her BIR Form 1601-C every month without fail. In early January, she downloaded the latest Alphalist Data Entry and Validation Module, encoded each employee’s annual totals, and validated the file before touching Form 1604C itself.

By January 20, she had already issued BIR Form 2316 to all 8 employees and submitted her 1604C with the attached Alphalist. Starting early meant she had time to fix two TIN typos the validation module caught, instead of scrambling on January 31.

Final Thoughts

BIR Form 1604C Philippines filing feels intimidating the first time, but it comes down to three things. Reconcile your monthly 1601-C filings, validate your Alphalist before touching the form itself, and issue Form 2316 to your employees on the same deadline.

Following this 1604C step by step approach every January turns a stressful deadline into a routine task. BB is available 24/7 if you get stuck on a validation error or a specific field. Start early this year, and next January will feel a lot less scary.

Disclaimer: This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or accounting advice. For complex tax situations, consult a licensed CPA.