BIR Form 2307 for Actuaries: Withholding Rate and ATC Codes

An insurance company, pension fund, HMO, or reinsurer that pays an individually engaged actuary for a reserve valuation, pricing study, or actuarial opinion withholds tax under the same 5%/10% named-professional bracket as doctors and engineers — because RR No. 2-98 names actuaries directly in its professional-fee enumeration. This is a different bracket and threshold than the one that applies to commission-based insurance agents and adjusters, even though both routinely bill the same insurer.

This guide is part of the BIR Form 2307 series. It covers why actuaries are a named professional category, how engaging an actuarial firm instead of an individual changes the rate, why this differs from the insurance-agent commission bracket, and a worked reserve-valuation example.

Are actuaries named professionals for withholding tax purposes? #

Yes — actuaries are individually listed in the same enumeration clause of RR No. 2-98 that names architects, engineers, and marine surveyors, distinct from the separate schedule that covers insurance agents’ commissions. Section 2.57.2(A)(1) lists the individually engaged professionals subject to expanded withholding tax:

“…architects; civil, electrical, chemical, mechanical, structural, industrial, mining, sanitary, metallurgical and geodetic engineers; marine surveyors; doctors of veterinary science; dentist; professional appraisers; connoisseurs of tobacco; actuaries; and interior decorators.”

— Section 2.57.2(A)(1) of Revenue Regulations No. 2-98, listing individually engaged professionals subject to expanded withholding tax

An actuary performs reserve valuations, pricing and product design work, experience studies, and statutory actuarial opinions, typically for a life or non-life insurer, HMO, pension or provident fund, or a reinsurer. Because the regulation names the profession specifically, a business paying an individually engaged actuary for this work is paying a named professional under the same bracket as a doctor or engineer, not a general consulting fee.

Individual actuary or actuarial consulting firm — why the payee type changes the rate #

The ATC and rate depend on whether the actual payee is the individual actuary or an actuarial consulting firm organized as a corporation, following the same individual-vs-entity split this series applies to professional fees generally.

An insurer that retains “Fellow Actuary Ramon Cruz, FASP” directly, billed under his own name and TIN, withholds at WI010/WI011. The same insurer paying an invoice from an actuarial consulting corporation for identical valuation work withholds instead at WC010/WC011. To secure the lower 5% individual rate, the actuary files an Income Payee’s Sworn Declaration (Annex “B-1” or “B-2”) with the insurer.

Why an actuary is withheld differently from an insurance agent #

An actuary’s fee and an insurance agent’s commission are two different EWT items under RR No. 2-98, even though both are commonly paid by the same insurance company on the same set of policies. As BIR Form 2307 for Insurance Agents and Adjusters explains, agents and adjusters sit in their own dedicated EWT item tied to a separate ₱720,000 rate threshold, reflecting that agent commissions are structured as sales compensation rather than a named professional’s fee. An actuary’s engagement — signing a statutory valuation, certifying reserve adequacy, or pricing a new product — is professional work under Section 2.57.2(A)(1) instead, so an insurer preparing both certificates needs to apply the correct ATC to each payee rather than defaulting to one rate across all its outside consultants.

Who withholds on an actuary’s fee #

Any business engaged in trade or business that pays an actuary for services connected to that business — an insurer, HMO, pension fund, or employee benefits consultancy — is a withholding agent. Common payors include:

• A life or non-life insurance company engaging an actuary for the statutory annual valuation of policy reserves
• An HMO retaining an actuary to price a new health plan or certify claims reserve adequacy
• A corporate retirement or provident fund commissioning an actuarial valuation of fund liabilities
• A reinsurer engaging an independent actuary to review a ceding company’s reserving methodology

Worked example: an insurer’s statutory reserve valuation #

Mabuhay Life Insurance Corp. engages Fellow Actuary Teresa Ongsiako, an individually engaged Fellow of the Actuarial Society of the Philippines, for ₱150,000 to prepare the statutory valuation of policy reserves required for the company’s annual financial statements. She bills directly under her own name and TIN and has a sworn declaration (Annex B-1) on file confirming her gross income for the year has not exceeded ₱3,000,000, so ATC WI010 at 5% applies.

Mabuhay Life remits the ₱7,500 withheld through BIR Form 0619-E monthly and BIR Form 1601-EQ quarterly, and issues a BIR Form 2307 showing ATC WI010 and the cumulative fees withheld, which the actuary credits against her income tax due. Had Mabuhay Life instead engaged an actuarial consulting corporation for the same valuation, the fee would be withheld at 10% (ATC WC010) instead, assuming the firm’s gross income for the year does not exceed ₱720,000 — ₱15,000 withheld under a corporate ATC.

Summary #

An individually engaged actuary is withheld at 5%/10% (ATC WI010/WI011) under RR No. 2-98’s named-professional bracket, the same clause that covers architects, engineers, and marine surveyors — an actuarial consulting firm organized as a corporation draws 10%/15% (ATC WC010/WC011) instead. This is a separate EWT item from an insurance agent’s or adjuster’s commission bracket, which carries its own ₱720,000 threshold, even when both are paid by the same insurer. For the general professional-fee mechanics this scenario builds on, see BIR Form 2307 for Professional Fees, and for the parallel agent-commission analysis, see BIR Form 2307 for Insurance Agents and Adjusters.