BIR Form 1601-EQ: How to File the Quarterly Expanded Withholding Tax Return

BIR Form 1601-EQ is the Quarterly Remittance Return of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld (Expanded) — the return a withholding agent files with the BIR each quarter to report and remit expanded (creditable) withholding tax deducted from payments like professional fees, rent, and commissions. It is due on or before the last day of the month following the close of the quarter, and it consolidates the two monthly Form 0619-E remittances already paid earlier in that same quarter.

This guide explains who must file BIR Form 1601-EQ, how it connects to the monthly Form 0619-E and the BIR Form 2307 certificates issued to payees, the exact deadline, and a worked example reconciling a quarter’s withholding.

What is BIR Form 1601-EQ and who must file it? #

BIR Form 1601-EQ reports the total expanded withholding tax a withholding agent deducted from income payments during a calendar quarter, and remits that amount to the BIR. Any person or entity required to withhold expanded withholding tax under Revenue Regulations No. 2-98, as amended by RR No. 11-2018 — companies, government agencies, and self-employed individuals engaged in trade or business who make payments like professional fees, rent, and commissions to suppliers — must file it, regardless of whether the agent itself is VAT-registered.

Key details:

• Official name: Quarterly Remittance Return of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld (Expanded)
• Filed by: the withholding agent (payor), not the payee
• Covers: expanded/creditable withholding tax on business and professional income payments — the same payments documented on BIR Form 2307
• Attached to: the Quarterly Alphalist of Payees (QAP), listing every payee and the tax withheld from each

How does 1601-EQ relate to Form 0619-E and Form 2307? #

BIR Form 1601-EQ is the quarter-end reconciliation of two monthly Form 0619-E remittances plus the quarter’s third month, tied together by the certificates already issued as BIR Form 2307. Under the current filing structure, a withholding agent remits expanded withholding tax for the first two months of each quarter using BIR Form 0619-E (Monthly Remittance Form for Creditable Income Taxes Withheld – Expanded), due on or before the 10th day of the following month. Form 1601-EQ then covers the entire quarter, and the tax already paid through the two 0619-E filings is credited against the quarterly total — so the amount still payable with Form 1601-EQ is typically only the net liability from the quarter’s third month.

Every individual payment that generated withholding tax during the quarter should have a corresponding BIR Form 2307 issued to the payee. The sum of the tax withheld shown across all Form 2307 certificates issued in a quarter is the same figure — payee by payee — that appears on that quarter’s QAP attachment and rolls up into the total remitted on Form 1601-EQ. A mismatch between certificates issued and the 1601-EQ total is one of the most common sources of BIR queries during audit; see Common BIR Form 2307 Mistakes and How to Correct Them for how period-timing and amount errors typically arise.

When is BIR Form 1601-EQ due? #

BIR Form 1601-EQ must be filed and paid on or before the last day of the month following the close of the taxable quarter it covers — the same deadline that applies to the QAP attachment filed with it.

If a due date falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day. Always confirm the exact date against the BIR’s official annual calendar, since the dates above follow the standard “last day of the following month” rule but are not a substitute for the BIR’s own published schedule.

A worked example: reconciling a quarter’s withholding #

A bookkeeping firm pays two recurring vendors during Q1 2026: a lessor charging ₱50,000 monthly rent, and an independent CPA billing ₱80,000 per month for professional fees (the CPA’s gross receipts exceed ₱3,000,000 for the year, so the 10% rate under RR No. 11-2018 applies rather than the 5% rate available to professionals under the ₱3,000,000 threshold with a valid sworn declaration on file).

• Rent: ₱50,000 × 3 months × 5% (ATC WC100/WI100, per RR No. 2-98 as amended) = ₱7,500 withheld
• Professional fees: ₱80,000 × 3 months × 10% = ₱24,000 withheld
• Total Q1 expanded withholding tax: ₱31,500

The firm issues a BIR Form 2307 to the lessor and to the CPA at the end of each month (or quarterly, if agreed), each showing the exact amount withheld for that period. Through BIR Form 0619-E, it already remitted the January and February withholding (₱21,000 combined) by February 10 and March 10, respectively. When BIR Form 1601-EQ is filed by April 30, it reports the full ₱31,500 for the quarter, credits the ₱21,000 already remitted via Form 0619-E, and remits the remaining ₱10,500 — the March withholding — together with the QAP listing both payees and the amounts withheld from each.

How to file and pay BIR Form 1601-EQ #

Withholding agents file BIR Form 1601-EQ through either eFPS (mandatory for large taxpayers and other taxpayers required to enroll) or eBIRForms (for taxpayers not covered by eFPS), then pay through an Authorized Agent Bank, the BIR’s online payment channels, or eFPS’s own payment facility for eFPS filers. See eFPS vs eBIRForms: Which One Do You Need to File With? for how to determine which system applies. The QAP DAT file is submitted separately through the BIR’s Alphalist/QAP submission channel using the payee data already used to prepare each Form 2307.

Frequently asked questions #

What is BIR Form 1601-EQ? #

BIR Form 1601-EQ is the Quarterly Remittance Return of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld (Expanded) — the return a withholding agent files each quarter to report and remit the expanded (creditable) withholding tax deducted from payments such as professional fees, rent, and commissions.

Who must file BIR Form 1601-EQ? #

Any withholding agent required to deduct expanded withholding tax on income payments under Revenue Regulations No. 2-98, as amended — including businesses, government offices, and individuals engaged in trade or business who pay professional fees, rent, or other income subject to expanded withholding tax — must file BIR Form 1601-EQ.

When is BIR Form 1601-EQ due? #

BIR Form 1601-EQ is due on or before the last day of the month following the close of the taxable quarter — April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31 for a calendar-year filer.

How does BIR Form 0619-E relate to BIR Form 1601-EQ? #

BIR Form 0619-E is the monthly remittance form used for the first two months of each quarter. The expanded withholding tax already remitted through Form 0619-E for those two months is credited against the total quarterly liability computed on BIR Form 1601-EQ, so only the third month’s net liability typically remains payable.

Does BIR Form 1601-EQ replace the need to issue BIR Form 2307? #

No. BIR Form 1601-EQ is the withholding agent’s own remittance return filed with the BIR; BIR Form 2307 is the certificate given to each payee as proof of the tax withheld. The individual amounts on every Form 2307 issued during the quarter should reconcile to the totals reported on that quarter’s Form 1601-EQ and its QAP attachment.

Summary #

BIR Form 1601-EQ consolidates a quarter’s expanded withholding tax — net of the two monthly Form 0619-E remittances already paid — and is due on or before the last day of the month following the quarter’s close. Its figures should always trace back to the individual BIR Form 2307 certificates issued to payees and the QAP alphalist filed alongside it. For the certificate side of this same withholding activity, see What Is BIR Form 2307 and When Must You Issue It?, and for preparing the QAP DAT file itself, see How to Convert Excel to BIR DAT File for QAP.