A registered business address is where the company receives all official correspondence regarding their business. It is the authorized location for the company’s legislative registration and the reception of the government’s official mail. This is to ensure that the company will be able to receive all notices from the government.
All companies are required to have a registered business address as this is one of the prerequisites in the process of business registration in the Philippines.
The registered business address can be found in all corporate documents of the company, such as but not limited to: (1) Articles of Incorporation issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (2) Mayor’s Permit issued by the Local Government Unit, and lastly, (3) BIR Certificate of Registration, and (4) Certificate of Registration from the government mandated agencies (SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-ibig).
How Can I Change My Business Address?
Changing the business address of the corporation in the Philippines is much easier if done within the same city. However, it is a more tedious process if the company is transferring from one city to another.
Here is the step by step procedure on how to change the company address from one city to another.
Step 1: Amend the 3rd clause of the Articles of Incorporation
Since the SEC Certificate is the basis of all government agencies, it is important to update first at this stage to be able to proceed with the change of address with LGU, BIR, and Government mandated agencies such as SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-ibig.
The first step is to process the monitoring with the Compliance Monitoring Division. This is crucial. The first step ensures that all the reportorial requirements were submitted. If the requirements are not complete, you need to submit all the compliance and pay the corresponding penalties for non-submission before you can proceed with the amendment.
After the monitoring, the company basically submits other documents such as the amended articles (document with the new changes), board resolution, and secretary’s certificate to the SEC. The output of this is the Amended Articles of Incorporation.
Step 2: Retirement of business address with the previous city
- 2.1. Barangay Retirement with the previous city
Based on experience, the company may start the process of retirement with the Barangay while SEC amendment is still pending as this is not a prerequisite for the retirement. However, the company needs to submit a Board Resolution and Secretary Certificate showing that the change of address is approved by the board members.
In case the person assigned for this task is not an authorized signatory of the company, you need to submit an authorization letter with an attached ID of the person granting the authority.
Please take note that the company only has 30 days from the date of Barangay Closure to process the business retirement with the City Hall. Otherwise, a penalty will be imposed for the late filing of retirement.
- 2.2. Business Permit with the previous city
Once the company has secured the Barangay Business Retirement, the next step is to proceed with the process of the business retirement from the Local Government Unit (LGU). The LGU office is where the company was previously located.
Submit all the requirements needed for the retirement to the City Treasurer’s Office and pay the necessary fees.
Please remember that the company only has 30 days after the release of Amended Articles of Incorporation to apply for business retirement in City Hall, otherwise, the company will be facing a penalty for the late filing of business retirement.
Note that the process of the business retirement with the current business address and the registration of the business with the new city can be done simultaneously.
Step 3: Transferring of Record with Bureau of Internal Revenue
- 3.1. Filing the Change of Address with the current BIR Revenue District Office
Once the Amended Articles of Incorporation is released, the company has 30 days to file a request to change of address with the BIR having the jurisdiction of the company’s business address.
The first step is to process the routing of the Tax Delinquency Verification Report. This form needs to be routed in all divisions of BIR. The Collection Division of BIR will release a report of open cases if there are any BIR returns showing up as missing in their system. The company needs to submit all the compliance and pay the corresponding penalties for any unfiled returns. Most of the time, the open cases are the tax returns that the company has submitted already but did not show in their system.
The second step is to process the destruction of the unused Primary and Secondary Receipts, by using the Annex “D” form of BIR. All unused booklets must be destroyed in front of the BIR account officer. Once all the unused booklets have been destroyed, the said form will then be stamped.
Note that the process of destruction of the unused primary and secondary receipts can be done while Tax Delinquency Verification routing is in process.
Thirdly, submit the Tax Delinquency Verification Report and the Annex “D” form duly stamped by the account officer together with the other requirements to the BIR assigned examiner. In addition, wait for the release of the Endorsement Letter.
After submitting the Tax Delinquency Verification Report and the Annex “D” form, make sure also to request for the End Date of filing BIR Returns once the company submitted the application for change of address. This action will prevent any additional open cases.
Once the Endorsement Letter is Released, the company needs to wait to transfer their data in the system of the new Revenue District Office.
- 3.2 – Filing of Registration with the new Revenue District Office
Once verified that the company’s information is already transferred to the BIR database of the new RDO, you need to submit again a new set of application for change of address, attaching the requirements such as the 1905 Form, Request Letter, Endorsement Letter, Amended Articles of Incorporation and Application for Authority to Print receipts and invoices or ATP, etc.
Once submitted and reviewed by the account officer, a new Certificate of Registration and Authority to Print Receipts and Invoices will be released.
The last stage is processing the printing of the new Official Receipts (OR) and Billing Statement (BS). This process must be done within 30 days upon release of the new COR, otherwise a penalty of 1,000 will be imposed for the late registration of the new OR and BS booklets.
Step 4: Change of address with SSS, Philhealth and Pag-ibig
Once you have secured the BIR Certificate of Registration and the Mayor’s Permit bearing the new address of the company, you may now proceed with the process of changing the registered address with the 3 mandated government agencies:
- Social Security System (SSS)
- Home Development Mutual Funds (Pag-ibig)
- Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhiHealth)
Make sure to ask the concerned government agencies from time to time for the updated list of requirements and forms to be used as the policy may changes from time to time.
FilePino Provides High-Quality Assistance With Government Agencies
To change the registered business address of the company, you need to deal with the several local government agencies that deal with processes related to the change of address.
Dealing with the government agencies here in the Philippines takes a lot of patience. Coordinating and submitting the necessary documents to government agencies in the Philippines take a lot of time and resources. To avoid any inconvenience, FilePino offers high-quality assistance with the process of changing the address of the company with all concerned government agencies.
FilePino assists your company in updating its registered business address. With its teamwork, close coordination and time efficient services, FilePino ensures that processing with local government offices will be hassle free and worry free. Thus, saving your company more time and resources and giving it more time to focus on other aspects of the business.
