How to Generate a SAWT DAT File for BIR Form 1700

BIR Form 1700 is the annual income tax return for individuals earning purely compensation income. BIR Online Tools’ SAWT module converts a filled-in Excel workbook of withheld-from payees into a BIR-ready DAT file for this return, using the same download-fill-upload-convert flow as every other SAWT form.

This guide is part of the SAWT overview in the App Guide series. If you’re filing for individuals, estates, or trusts with other income types, see BIR Form 1701Q or BIR Form 1701 instead.

How do you generate a SAWT DAT file for BIR Form 1700? #

1. Download the Excel template #

Open the BIR Form 1700 SAWT converter and click Download Excel Template. The template ships with example detail rows already filled in, so you can see the expected format before replacing them with real payee data.

2. Fill in your payee entries and upload #

Replace the example rows with your own payee TINs, ATCs, income payments, and tax withheld, save the file, then click Upload Excel File and select it. BIR Online Tools reads every row before validating.

3. Review the validation results #

A passed workbook shows a Validation Results — Passed badge, the parsed row count, the return period, and computed totals for income payment and tax withheld.

4. Download the DAT file #

Click Download DAT File. The filename follows BIR convention (<TIN><BranchCode><MMYYYY> plus the form’s DAT type code), and the file is saved automatically to your DAT Repository.

Frequently asked questions #

Who files BIR Form 1700? #

BIR Form 1700 is the annual income tax return for individuals earning purely compensation income — employees who don’t also have business or professional income requiring a different return.

What does the BIR Form 1700 SAWT template contain? #

The downloadable Excel template ships with example detail rows already filled in, showing the expected columns — payee TIN, ATC, nature of income payment, amount, and tax withheld — before you replace them with real data.

What happens if my uploaded workbook has errors? #

BIR Online Tools reads every row first, then shows a table of every validation error — sheet, row, field, message, and value — before you can generate a DAT file, so you fix everything in one pass instead of one error at a time.

Summary #

Generating a SAWT DAT file for BIR Form 1700 takes four steps: download the example-filled template, replace the rows with your payee data, upload it for validation, and download the resulting DAT file. See the SAWT overview for the other eight forms, or the App Guide hub for every module.