BIR Form 2307 for Geodetic Engineers and Land Surveyors: Withholding Rates and ATC Codes

A business that pays a PRC-licensed geodetic engineer for a land survey, subdivision plan, or titling support falls under the same 5%/10% named-professional withholding bracket as architects and engineers under RR No. 11-2018 — not the flat 2% rate for most general services. The rate and BIR Form 2307 ATC code turn on whether the payee is the individual engineer, a survey/mapping firm organized as a corporation, or a government agency applying its own schedule instead.

This guide is part of the BIR Form 2307 series. It covers why geodetic engineers and land surveyors sit inside RR No. 11-2018’s named-professional list, how the individual-vs-firm distinction changes the rate, how a government client’s payment differs, and a worked subdivision-survey example.

Are geodetic engineers named professionals for withholding tax purposes? #

Yes — geodetic engineers are individually enumerated among the professionals whose fees fall under the expanded withholding tax rules, in the same clause that names architects, civil engineers, lawyers, and doctors of medicine. RR No. 2-98, as amended by RR No. 11-2018 to implement the TRAIN Law (RA No. 10963), sets out the enumeration this way:

“…the following individuals shall be subjected to expanded withholding tax: …architects[,] civil, electrical, chemical, mechanical, structural, industrial, mining, sanitary, metallurgical, geodetic engineers…”

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

“Geodetic engineer” is the term the regulation itself uses, and it is also the current PRC-licensed title for what many clients still call a “land surveyor.” Republic Act No. 8560, the Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998, as amended by RA No. 9200, regulates the practice of geodetic engineering in the Philippines and requires a license from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to practice — consolidating land survey, subdivision, and boundary work under a single licensed profession. A business paying a geodetic engineer for a relocation survey, a subdivision plan, or land-titling support is paying the same named professional this RR No. 2-98 clause covers, whatever the client calls the engagement.

Individual geodetic engineer or survey/mapping firm — why the payee type changes the rate #

The withholding rate and ATC code turn on who the actual payee is: an individually licensed geodetic engineer is withheld under the individual professional-fee rate, while a survey or mapping firm organized as a corporation is withheld under the corporate professional-fee rate — even though both bill for the same kind of survey work. This is the same individual-vs-entity split this series covers in BIR Form 2307 for Architects and Engineers.

A developer that retains “Engr. Villanueva” directly — billing under his own name and TIN for a boundary survey — withholds using WI010/WI011. The same developer paying an invoice from “Villanueva Geodetic Surveys, Inc.” for identical survey work withholds using WC010/WC011 instead, because the payee on that invoice is a corporation, not an individual professional. To claim the lower 5% individual rate, the engineer files an Income Payee’s Sworn Declaration of Gross Receipts/Sales (Annex “B-1” or “B-2”) with a copy of their BIR Certificate of Registration, the same declaration mechanic covered in BIR Form 2307 for Professional Fees.

When the client is a government agency: GMP withholding or the professional-fee bracket? #

A national government agency, GOCC, or LGU that pays for survey or land-titling services generally withholds under its own government money payment (GMP) schedule rather than the private-sector 5%/10% bracket, because government offices apply a standardized rate to their local purchases regardless of the specific service category. As BIR Form 2307 for Government Money Payments covers, this GMP schedule sits under a separate clause of RR No. 2-98:

• A cadastral or subdivision survey procured as a general government services contract — for example, a public-bidding contract with the Land Registration Authority, the DENR’s Land Management Bureau, or an LGU’s assessor’s office — is typically withheld at the flat GMP rate of 2% on services (ATC WC157/WI157) under RR No. 2-98 Section 2.57.2(I), the same rate the government applies to most other local service purchases.
• A geodetic engineer engaged directly under a personal professional-services arrangement, separate from a general procurement contract, may still be withheld under the named-professional bracket instead, since Section 2.57.2(A) specifically names the profession regardless of the payor’s identity.

In practice, government accounting and disbursing offices default to the uniform GMP schedule for supplier payments, so a geodetic engineer or survey firm contracted by a government office for cadastral, subdivision, or titling work should confirm which withholding tax certificate — and which ATC — the agency actually applies, rather than assume the private-sector rate automatically carries over.

Who has to withhold on a geodetic engineer’s fee? #

Any business or individual engaged in business — a real estate developer, contractor, corporation, or self-employed professional — that pays a geodetic engineer for services in the course of that business is a withholding agent and must withhold EWT before releasing payment. RR No. 2-98 sets the withholding-agent test this way:

“(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)

Common payors include:

• A real estate developer paying a geodetic engineer to conduct a subdivision survey and prepare titling documents for new house-and-lot units
• A construction firm retaining a geodetic engineer to establish boundary monuments before groundbreaking
• A land developer or homeowners’ association paying for a relocation survey to resolve a boundary dispute
• A bank or financing company commissioning a survey to verify collateral property boundaries before releasing a loan

An individual homeowner paying a geodetic engineer to survey their own private residential lot is not a withholding agent, following the same trade-or-business test this series applies to architects and engineers — withholding under RR No. 11-2018 applies only where the payor is itself in business or in the practice of a profession.

Worked example: a developer’s subdivision survey and titling engagement #

Meridian Homes Corporation, a real estate developer, engages Engr. Beatriz Santos, an individually licensed geodetic engineer, for a fixed project fee of ₱80,000 to conduct a subdivision survey and prepare the titling documents for a new residential phase. Engr. Santos bills the developer directly under her own name and TIN and has an Income Payee’s Sworn Declaration of Gross Receipts/Sales (Annex B-1) on file confirming her gross income for the year has not exceeded ₱3,000,000, so ATC WI010 at 5% applies.

Meridian Homes remits the ₱4,000 withheld through BIR Form 0619-E monthly and BIR Form 1601-EQ quarterly, and issues Engr. Santos a BIR Form 2307 each quarter showing the cumulative professional fees paid, ATC WI010, and the total tax withheld — which she then credits against her income tax due when filing BIR Form 1701Q/1701.

Had Meridian instead engaged “Santos Geodetic Surveys and Mapping, Inc.,” a corporation, for the identical subdivision-survey-and-titling engagement, the developer would withhold using ATC WC010 at 10% (assuming the firm’s gross income for the year does not exceed ₱720,000) — ₱8,000 withheld on the same ₱80,000 fee, under a corporate ATC rather than the individual one, with no sworn-declaration requirement involved. Had a national government agency commissioned the same subdivision survey as part of a general procurement contract instead, the agency’s disbursing unit would typically apply its own GMP schedule — 2% on services (ATC WC157/WI157) — withholding ₱1,600, rather than either of the professional-fee rates above.

Frequently asked questions #

Is a geodetic engineer’s professional fee subject to expanded withholding tax? #

Yes. Geodetic engineers are individually named among the professionals subject to expanded withholding tax under Section 2.57.2(A) of RR No. 2-98, as amended by RR No. 11-2018 — the same enumeration that covers architects, civil engineers, lawyers, and doctors. A business that pays an individually licensed geodetic engineer for professional surveying or land-titling services must withhold EWT and issue BIR Form 2307.

What withholding tax rate applies when a real estate developer pays a geodetic engineer directly? #

An individually licensed geodetic engineer engaged directly is withheld at the same 5%/10% individual professional-fee rate as any other named professional under RR No. 11-2018: 5% (ATC WI010) if the engineer’s gross income for the current year does not exceed ₱3,000,000 and a sworn declaration is on file, or 10% (ATC WI011) if it exceeds ₱3,000,000, the engineer is VAT-registered, or no valid declaration has been submitted.

Does the rate change when a survey and mapping firm is paid instead of an individual geodetic engineer? #

Yes. If the payee is a survey or mapping firm organized as a corporation rather than the individual geodetic engineer, the payment is a professional fee to a corporate payee, subject to 10% (ATC WC010) if the firm’s gross income for the current year does not exceed ₱720,000, or 15% (ATC WC011) if it exceeds ₱720,000.

How does withholding differ when a government agency pays for a cadastral survey? #

A national government agency, GOCC, or LGU that procures survey or mapping services as a general government purchase typically withholds under the government money payment (GMP) schedule — 2% on services under RR No. 2-98 Section 2.57.2(I) — rather than the private-sector 5%/10% professional bracket, because GMP withholding applies uniformly to government service purchases. A government unit that directly engages an individual geodetic engineer under a personal professional-services contract, rather than a general procurement contract, may still apply the named-professional rate instead.

What is the licensing basis for treating geodetic engineers as licensed professionals? #

Republic Act No. 8560, the Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998 (as amended by RA No. 9200), regulates the practice of geodetic engineering in the Philippines and requires a license from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to practice — the same PRC licensing framework that architects, civil engineers, and other named professionals under RR No. 11-2018 operate under.

Summary #

A PRC-licensed geodetic engineer engaged individually — under RA No. 8560, the Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998 — is withheld at the same 5%/10% (ATC WI010/WI011) named-professional bracket as architects and engineers under RR No. 11-2018, once a sworn declaration is on file. A survey or mapping firm organized as a corporation is withheld instead at 10%/15% (ATC WC010/WC011), and a government agency procuring survey or titling work through a general services contract typically applies its own 2% GMP schedule under RR No. 2-98 Section 2.57.2(I) rather than either professional-fee rate. Whether the client is a private developer, a construction firm, or a government office, and whether the payee is an individual or a firm, decides which rate applies — not the type of survey work performed. For the general named-professional mechanics this scenario builds on, see BIR Form 2307 for Architects and Engineers, and for how government clients withhold on suppliers generally, see BIR Form 2307 for Government Money Payments.