BIR Form 2307 for Printing and Signage Shops: Print Production vs. Ad Placement

A business that orders signage, banners, tarpaulins, business cards, or other branded print materials in bulk from a commercial print or signage shop generally withholds 2% expanded withholding tax (EWT) and issues BIR Form 2307 — and unlike some service categories in this series, this one is not a general catch-all. RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.2(E), explicitly enumerates “printers, bookbinders, lithographers and publishers” within the flat 2% bracket, with one narrow carve-out for publishers of regularly-issued newspapers and magazines.

This guide is part of the BIR Form 2307 series. It covers who withholds on a printing or signage order, the explicit regulatory language behind the rate, the narrow newspaper-publisher exception, how print production differs from media buying, and a worked nationwide-rebrand signage order.

Who withholds on a printing or signage order? #

The obligation follows the same payor-status test this series applies to every business-service supplier: a corporation or business-connected individual withholds, a private walk-in customer generally does not. RR No. 2-98 sets the 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)

A retail chain ordering store signage from a commercial print shop, or a corporation ordering branded business cards and tarpaulins for a launch event, is a withholding agent under clause (A) or (B). A private individual paying the same shop for a personal photo print or a wedding invitation order falls outside the rule entirely.

Are printing and signage shops actually named in the regulation? #

Yes — unlike several service categories elsewhere in this series that rely on a general “other business agencies” catch-all, printers are explicitly listed by name in RR No. 2-98’s enumerated “other contractors” bracket. Tax references compiling the regulation’s text render the relevant clause this way:

“Printers, bookbinders, lithographers and publishers except those principally engaged in the publication or printing of any newspaper, magazine, review or bulletin which appears at regular intervals, with fixed prices for subscription and sale…”

— as reproduced from RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.2(E)(4), in Philippine tax-practitioner compilations of the regulation

A commercial print and signage shop producing banners, tarpaulins, business cards, packaging, and branded promotional materials for corporate clients falls squarely within “printers… and lithographers” in that clause — it is not relying on a catch-all, it is named directly.

This is the same 2% figure this series applies to the enumerated contractor list generally — see BIR Form 2307 for Contractors and Subcontractors for the fuller list of businesses RR No. 11-2018 places in this bracket.

The newspaper and magazine publisher exception #

The regulation’s own text carves out one specific kind of publisher from the 2% bracket — one that a commercial print or signage shop generally does not fall into. A publisher “principally engaged” in publishing a newspaper, magazine, review, or bulletin that appears at regular intervals, with fixed subscription and sale prices, sits outside this withholding category. Regular sales of these publications are separately treated as VAT-exempt transactions under Section 109 of the National Internal Revenue Code — a different rule addressing a different tax, but one that reflects the same underlying policy of treating recurring newspaper and magazine publishing distinctly from ordinary commercial printing.

This exception is narrow and does not extend to a print or signage shop that produces one-off or bulk commercial jobs — store signage, event banners, business cards, product packaging, or promotional flyers — even if that shop occasionally also prints something that looks like a periodical. The test in the regulation is what the payee is “principally engaged” in, not whether any single job resembles a publication. A shop whose core business is commercial print and signage production for corporate clients is withheld on at 2% the same as any other enumerated printer, regardless of this exception.

Print production vs. media placement: two different things #

Paying a print shop to physically produce signage or branded materials is a separate transaction from paying for advertising space, and the two carry different withholding treatment even inside the same marketing campaign. A retail chain’s nationwide rebrand might involve both: ordering physical store signage, banners, and tarpaulins from a print/signage shop (print production, withheld under RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.2(E), covered in this post), and separately buying billboard space, TV airtime, or digital ad placements through an advertising agency or media supplier (media buying, withheld under the advertiser-media-agency structure in RMC No. 63-2012, covered in BIR Form 2307 for Advertising Agencies and Media Placements).

These are not interchangeable line items on a single withholding computation. The print shop invoice for physically manufacturing signage gets its own 2% EWT and its own BIR Form 2307 under the printer/lithographer enumeration. A media supplier’s invoice for placing an ad gets withheld under the separate advertiser-media-agency chain described in that other guide. A business running a rebrand that touches both should expect two distinct withholding relationships, not one combined figure, and should issue a separate BIR Form 2307 to each supplier reflecting only what that supplier was actually paid for.

Worked example: a retail chain’s ₱200,000 nationwide rebrand signage order #

A national retail chain rebranding all its branches orders ₱200,000 in store signage, tarpaulins, and promotional print materials from a commercial print and signage shop, withholding ₱4,000 EWT at 2%.

MetroMart Retail Corp. engages PrintCraft Signage Solutions Inc., a domestic corporation, to produce new storefront signage, interior banners, and branded promotional print materials for its nationwide rebrand across 40 branches. The order is billed as one production job at ₱200,000 (VAT-exclusive). Because MetroMart is a corporation paying for print production in the course of its business, it withholds under the 2% printer/lithographer bracket using ATC WC120:

MetroMart remits the ₱4,000 with its monthly BIR Form 0619-E and quarterly BIR Form 1601-EQ filings, lists PrintCraft on its Quarterly Alphalist of Payees, and issues a BIR Form 2307 showing ₱200,000 as the income payment, ATC WC120, and ₱4,000 tax withheld. If MetroMart’s same rebrand also buys billboard and digital ad placements through a separate media supplier, that spend is withheld and certificated independently under the RMC No. 63-2012 structure — it does not fold into the ₱4,000 figure above.

If the same order had instead been placed by an individual walk-in customer — a homeowner ordering a single personalized tarpaulin for a birthday party — no withholding would apply at all, since that payment carries no trade or business behind it.

Frequently asked questions #

Do businesses have to withhold tax when ordering signage or printed materials from a print shop? #

Yes, if the payor is a corporation or a business-registered individual. A business ordering signage, banners, tarpaulins, business cards, or other branded print materials from a commercial print or signage shop is a withholding agent under RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.3(A)-(B), and must withhold expanded withholding tax and issue BIR Form 2307.

What withholding tax rate and ATC code apply to printing and signage services? #

Printers, bookbinders, lithographers, and publishers are explicitly named in the 2% general contractor bracket under RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.2(E), as amended by RR No. 11-2018 — ATC WI120 for an individually run print or signage shop or WC120 for one organized as a corporation.

Are all printers and publishers subject to the 2% withholding rate? #

No. RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.2(E) carves out publishers principally engaged in publishing a newspaper, magazine, review, or bulletin that appears at regular intervals with fixed subscription and sale prices — sales of these are treated as VAT-exempt under Section 109 of the National Internal Revenue Code rather than falling into the 2% contractor bracket. Commercial print and signage shops producing signage, banners, or business cards for corporate clients are not covered by this narrow exception.

Is ordering ad placement or media buying the same as paying a print shop for production? #

No. Paying a print or signage shop to physically produce signage, banners, or branded materials is print production, withheld under RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.2(E). Paying for advertising space or media placement — TV, radio, digital, or outdoor media buying — runs through the separate advertiser-media-agency withholding structure under RMC No. 63-2012, covered in this series’ advertising agencies guide. The two are distinct transactions with distinct withholding treatment even when the same rebrand project involves both.

Does a walk-in customer buying personal photo prints or invitations need to withhold tax? #

No. Under RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.3(B), withholding applies only to payments connected to a trade or business. An individual walk-in customer paying a print shop for personal photo prints, wedding invitations, or a one-off document print job is not a withholding agent and the print shop does not receive a BIR Form 2307 for that payment.

Summary #

Printers, bookbinders, lithographers, and publishers are explicitly enumerated in the flat 2% general contractor bracket (ATC WI120/WC120) under RR No. 2-98, Section 2.57.2(E) — a business ordering signage, banners, or bulk branded print materials from a commercial print or signage shop withholds on that basis directly, not through a general catch-all. The regulation’s own narrow exception covers only publishers principally engaged in regularly-issued newspapers and magazines, not commercial print and signage production. Just as important: paying for print production is not the same transaction as paying for media placement — a nationwide rebrand that includes both signage production and ad buying generates two separate withholding relationships, one under this post’s rule and one under the RMC No. 63-2012 structure. See BIR Form 2307 for Contractors and Subcontractors for the broader enumerated-contractor bracket this rate draws from, and BIR Form 2307 for Advertising Agencies and Media Placements for how media buying is withheld instead.