How to Close or Cancel Your BIR Business Registration Under RMC No. 47-2026

Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 47-2026, issued by the BIR on May 19, 2026, prescribes simplified and streamlined guidelines for closing or cancelling a taxpayer’s business registration — covering retirement from business, cessation of operations, and transfer of ownership. The circular took effect immediately and reduces the documentary burden at the Revenue District Office (RDO) for taxpayers formally winding down, replacing a heavier, more paperwork-intensive closure process.

What does RMC No. 47-2026 actually simplify? #

RMC No. 47-2026 streamlines the documentary requirements and RDO processing steps for business closure and cancellation, aimed at taxpayers retiring from business, ceasing operations, or transferring the business to a new owner. Rather than changing who must close registration or when, it changes how much paperwork and processing time that closure now takes at the RDO — a procedural relief, not a substantive change to closure eligibility.

What still has to be filed to close a registration? #

Even under the streamlined process, closing a BIR registration still requires several core steps before the BIR will cancel it:

• File an application for closure/update (BIR Form 1905) at the RDO with jurisdiction over the business.
• Surrender the original Certificate of Registration, BIR Form 2303, and any unused invoices or receipts.
• File all outstanding tax returns up to the date of closure — income tax, VAT or percentage tax, and withholding tax returns for the final period of operation.
• Settle any outstanding tax liabilities identified before the RDO can complete cancellation.

RMC No. 47-2026’s simplification applies to how these steps are documented and processed, not to whether they’re required.

Why does closing formally matter more than just stopping filing? #

A business that stops operating without formally closing its BIR registration remains an active taxpayer of record — meaning return-filing obligations keep accruing even with zero activity, and unfiled returns turn into open cases or stop-filer designations over time. This is the same exposure the BIR’s one-time abatement program for micro taxpayers was designed to address: see RR No. 4-2026: One-Time Tax Abatement for Micro Taxpayers, which lets taxpayers with accumulated delinquent accounts and stop-filer cases as of December 31, 2025 settle them through a fixed abatement fee. Closing a registration properly under RMC No. 47-2026 when a business actually stops operating is the preventive step — avoiding the open-case exposure that abatement programs exist to clean up after the fact.

A worked example #

A sole proprietor who registered under BIR Form 1901 in 2023 (see How to Register a New Business with the BIR for that process) closes the business in 2026 after relocating abroad. Instead of simply letting filings lapse, she files BIR Form 1905 for closure, surrenders her BIR Form 2303 and unused receipt booklets, and files her final quarter’s percentage tax return before the RDO processes cancellation under the RMC No. 47-2026 streamlined procedure — avoiding years of accruing stop-filer notices for a business that no longer operates.

Summary #

RMC No. 47-2026 reduces the paperwork and processing burden for closing a BIR business registration, but the core requirements — BIR Form 1905, surrendering the COR and unused receipts, filing final returns, and settling liabilities — still apply. Closing formally avoids the stop-filer exposure that RR No. 4-2026’s abatement program exists to remedy after the fact. See How to Register a New Business with the BIR for the registration bookend to this process.