Closing Just One Branch? BIR Form 1905 for a Partial Business Closure

Closing one underperforming branch does not require closing the entire business — a multi-branch taxpayer files BIR Form 1905 for that specific branch’s cancellation at the Revenue District Office (RDO) where the branch itself is registered, surrenders that branch’s unused receipts and permits, and the head office and every other branch continue operating and filing exactly as before. This is a narrower, faster process than a full business closure under RMC No. 47-2026.

Closing a branch vs closing the whole business — why these are different filings #

A single-branch closure cancels only that branch’s own registration record under the corporation’s existing Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN); a full business closure cancels the TIN itself, along with every registration and branch filed under it, in one company-wide winding-down process. How to Close or Cancel Your BIR Business Registration Under RMC No. 47-2026 covers the latter — retirement from business, cessation of all operations, or transfer of ownership, which requires filing final returns and settling liabilities across the entire taxpayer before the BIR cancels the TIN. Closing one branch out of several is a much smaller event: the corporation keeps existing, the TIN and Certificate of Registration (COR) at the head office stay in force, and only the closing branch’s own registration record is cancelled.

Just as registering a new branch is filed at the RDO with jurisdiction over that new location under Section 236(A) of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), closing a branch is filed at the RDO with jurisdiction over that same branch — not at the head office’s RDO, and not by filing the full-closure package that RMC No. 47-2026 streamlines for a company shutting down entirely.

What actually has to be filed to close one branch #

Closing a single branch still uses BIR Form 1905, the Application for Registration Information Update/Correction/Cancellation, but the cancellation box applies only to that branch’s own registration record, and every supporting document relates only to that branch’s inventory, receipts, and permits — never the head office’s. Based on the BIR’s standard documentary checklist for a registration closure, filed at the branch’s own RDO:

• BIR Form 1905, marking cancellation of the branch’s registration (not the corporation’s TIN).
• Inventory of unused sales invoices and official receipts printed under that branch’s own Authority to Print, surrendered to the RDO.
• Original permits issued to that branch — its Certificate of Registration (BIR Form 2303), and, where applicable, its Permit to Use (PTU) for any cash register machine (CRM) or point-of-sale (POS) system registered to that location.
• List of ending inventory of goods and supplies at that branch, where applicable.

If the closing branch has a registered CRM or POS unit, that permit has to be separately cancelled through the RDO or Large Taxpayers (LT) Office that has jurisdiction over the address where the machine was registered — not just surrendered along with the paperwork. Grant Thornton’s tax-notes coverage of the BIR’s revised cancellation procedure describes the notification the taxpayer files:

“The taxpayer shall notify the concerned RDO/LT Office in writing on their request to cancel the PTU within five (5) days from the date the machine was last used or withdrawn from use, stating the reason(s) for the cancellation and other information.”

— as summarized from Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 69-2020 by Grant Thornton Philippines’ tax-notes coverage of the circular

That five-day notification window runs from when the machine at the closing branch actually stops being used — a detail worth flagging to whoever manages the branch’s POS hardware before the location shuts its doors, since it is easy to overlook once staff and inventory are already being reassigned.

What does NOT happen when only one branch closes #

A single-branch closure leaves the corporation’s TIN, its head-office Certificate of Registration, and every other branch’s own registration completely untouched — none of those are cancelled, re-filed, suspended, or even paused because one location shuts down. This table lays out the core distinction from a full closure under RMC No. 47-2026, requirement by requirement:

Because the corporation itself keeps existing and keeps its TIN, there is no company-wide tax clearance requirement the way there is for a full closure — the head office and remaining branches simply keep filing their income tax, VAT or percentage tax, and withholding tax returns on the same schedule as before, with one fewer branch code contributing transactions going forward.

Worked example: a three-branch retail chain closes its underperforming second branch #

Manila Home & Garden Supply, Inc. operates a head office (branch code 0000) plus two branches: Branch 0001 in Quezon City and Branch 0002 in Cavite. Branch 0002 has underperformed for two years, and management decides to shut it down while keeping the head office and Branch 0001 running.

The company’s steps:

1. File BIR Form 1905 at the RDO with jurisdiction over the Branch 0002 address, checking the box to cancel that branch’s registration — not the corporation’s TIN.
2. Surrender Branch 0002’s unused official receipts and sales invoices, printed under that branch’s own Authority to Print, along with its original BIR Form 2303.
3. Cancel Branch 0002’s POS terminal permit by notifying the RDO/LT Office covering that address in writing within five days of the terminal’s last use, per RMC No. 69-2020’s procedure.
4. Reconcile Branch 0002’s ending inventory of goods on hand as of the closure date.

What Manila Home & Garden Supply does not do: it does not file for cancellation of its corporate TIN, it does not surrender the head office’s or Branch 0001’s Certificate of Registration, and neither of those locations pauses or resubmits its VAT, income tax, or withholding tax filings. Branch 0001 and the head office continue issuing receipts and filing returns exactly as before — the only operational change is that the RELIEF, SAWT, and QAP data the company consolidates each quarter (see How Do You File RELIEF, SAWT, or QAP When Your Business Has Multiple Branches?) simply stops carrying a branch-code-0002 row after the closure date, since that branch no longer generates transactions.

Summary #

Closing a single branch of a multi-branch business is a narrower filing than closing the company entirely: BIR Form 1905 at the branch’s own RDO, surrender of that branch’s unused receipts and Certificate of Registration, and separate cancellation of any CRM/POS permit registered to it. The corporation’s TIN, its head-office COR, and every other branch’s registration and filings are unaffected — there is no company-wide tax clearance step the way a full closure under RMC No. 47-2026 requires. The practical follow-on for a business with remaining branches is simply making sure the closed branch’s code drops out of future consolidated DAT filings.

Sources #

Primary sources

• Bureau of Internal Revenue — BIR Form No. 1905, Application for Registration Information Update/Correction/Cancellation (form and instructions).
• National Internal Revenue Code, Section 236(A), on registration of a head office, branch, or facility with the RDO having jurisdiction over its own location — the same jurisdictional principle applied here to closure, as previously cited in How to Register a New BIR Branch.
• Bureau of Internal Revenue — Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 69-2020, revised procedures for cancelling a Permit to Use CRM/POS machines. The circular’s own PDF was not independently retrievable in this research session; the notification procedure above is corroborated across the secondary sources below.

Secondary sources

• FilipiKnow — BIR Form 1905: An Ultimate Guide, on cancellation-of-registration grounds including permanent closure of a branch.
• Respicio & Co. — Grounds and Requirements for Filing BIR Form 1905, on documentary requirements for closure filings.
• Grant Thornton Philippines — Revised procedures for cancelling permit to use cash register machines, POS machines, other similar sales machines, on RMC No. 69-2020’s PTU cancellation notification and processing timelines.
• Sunstar Cebu — Tax Notes: Revised procedures for cancelling permit to use cash register machines, POS machines, corroborating the same RMC No. 69-2020 procedure.