Does a company withhold tax when chartering a provincial bus for a corporate trip?

Yes. A company paying a bus operator to charter a provincial or tourist bus for a corporate outing, seminar, or employee transport withholds 2% expanded withholding tax under RR No. 2-98 Section 2.57.2(E), as amended by RR No. 11-2018, using ATC WI120 for an individually operated bus business or WC120 for one organized as a corporation.

Is this the same withholding item used for cargo trucking?

No. The transportation-contractor line item under RR No. 2-98 Section 2.57.2(E) specifically covers common carriers for the carriage of goods and merchandise, not passengers. A passenger bus charter is withheld instead under the flat 2% general contractor/business-services bracket — the same ATC codes (WI120/WC120), but a different line item than goods-hauling transport.

Does withholding affect the bus company's own common carrier's tax?

No. A bus operator classified as a common carrier by land generally pays its own 3% common carrier's percentage tax on gross receipts under NIRC Section 117, separate and apart from the 2% creditable withholding tax a corporate client withholds on the charter fee it pays. The two taxes run on different tax bases and belong to different taxpayers' obligations.

Does a private individual chartering a bus for a personal event withhold tax?

Generally no. Withholding under RR No. 2-98 applies to a payor that is a juridical person or an individual acting in connection with trade or business. A family chartering a bus for a purely personal event, such as a wedding or reunion, generally falls outside the trade-or-business threshold and isn't a withholding agent.

BIR Form 2307 for Chartered and Provincial Bus Companies: Corporate Trip or Common Carrier Tax?

A company that charters a provincial or tourist bus for a corporate trip, seminar, or employee transport service withholds 2% expanded withholding tax on the charter fee — the same flat rate this series already applies to school bus and student transport contracts — not the goods-carriage transportation-contractor item reserved for cargo haulers, under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 2-98 as amended by RR No. 11-2018.

This guide is part of the BIR Form 2307 series. It applies the same passenger-transport framework already covered in BIR Form 2307 for School Bus and Student Transport Services, and contrasts it with the goods-carriage rate in BIR Form 2307 for Trucking and Cargo Hauling Companies.

Generate a Bus Charter BIR Form 2307 FREE →

Why a passenger charter isn’t the cargo transportation-contractor rate #

RR No. 2-98’s transportation-contractor line item specifically names common carriers for the carriage of goods and merchandise — not passengers — so a bus charter for people doesn’t fall under that provision at all:

“Transportation contractors which include common carriers for the carriage of goods and merchandise of whatever kind by land, air or water, where the gross payments by the payor to the same payee amounts to at least two thousand pesos (₱2,000) per month, regardless of the number of shipments during the month.”
— Section 2.57.2(E) of Revenue Regulations No. 2-98

Because a chartered bus moves employees or clients rather than goods, this guide treats it the same way BIR Form 2307 for School Bus and Student Transport Services treats a passenger transport contract: under the general withholding-agent definition and the flat 2% general-services bracket, not the cargo-specific item.

“(A) In general, any juridical person, whether or not engaged in trade or business; (B) An individual, with respect to payments made in connection with his trade or business…”
— RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.3(A)–(B)

What rate and ATC code apply to a bus charter? #

Payee	ATC	Rate
Bus charter/provincial bus operator, individually owned	WI120	2%
Bus charter/provincial bus company, organized as a corporation	WC120	2%

This is separate from the operator’s own common carrier’s percentage tax: a bus company classified as a common carrier by land generally pays 3% of its gross receipts under NIRC Section 117 as its own output tax, regardless of what the corporate client withholds on the charter fee it pays. The two obligations sit on different sides of the same transaction and belong to different taxpayers.

Worked example: a company seminar bus charter #

Apex Manufacturing Corp. (fictional) charters Golden Star Tours, Inc. (a corporation) to transport 80 employees to a two-day provincial seminar, paying a round-trip charter fee of ₱95,000.

Item	Amount
Bus charter fee (gross)	₱95,000.00
EWT withheld (2%, ATC WC120)	₱1,900.00
Net paid to Golden Star Tours	₱93,100.00

Apex Manufacturing withholds ₱1,900, remits it through BIR Form 0619-E monthly and BIR Form 1601-EQ quarterly, lists Golden Star Tours on its Quarterly Alphalist of Payees, and issues a BIR Form 2307 for ₱95,000 under ATC WC120. Golden Star Tours separately remains liable for its own 3% common carrier’s percentage tax on this and all its other gross transport receipts for the quarter — a liability unaffected by the ₱1,900 Apex withheld.

Summary #

A corporate bus charter is withheld at 2% under the general contractor/business-services bracket (ATC WI120/WC120), not the cargo-specific transportation-contractor item that applies to goods carriers, and this withholding runs independently of the bus operator’s own 3% common carrier’s percentage tax under NIRC Section 117. See BIR Form 2307 for School Bus and Student Transport Services for the closest passenger-transport template and BIR Form 2307 for Trucking and Cargo Hauling Companies for the contrasting cargo rate. For the full library of BIR Form 2307 guidance, start at the BIR Form 2307 series hub or the pillar guide.