How is BIR Form 1604-F different from BIR Form 1604-C and 1604-E?

BIR Form 1604-C covers withholding tax on compensation paid to employees, and BIR Form 1604-E covers creditable expanded withholding tax on payments to suppliers and payees who use the withheld amount as a tax credit. BIR Form 1604-F covers final withholding tax, where the amount withheld is the full and final tax on that income — the payee generally does not claim it as a credit against other tax due.

Who is required to file BIR Form 1604-F?

Any withholding agent that deducted and remitted final withholding tax during the year must file BIR Form 1604-F — this commonly includes payors of dividends, certain interest payments, and other income types subject to final tax under the NIRC, along with the corresponding certificate (BIR Form 2306) issued to each payee.

Does BIR Form 1604-F require a DAT file submission like other alphalists?

Yes. Like the 1604-C and 1604-E alphalists, the payee listing that supports BIR Form 1604-F is prepared in the BIR's prescribed format and submitted electronically as a DAT file through the BIR's eSubmission system, rather than as a printed listing.

What Is BIR Form 1604-F? Annual Alphalist of Payees Subjected to Final Withholding Tax

BIR Form 1604-F is the Annual Information Return of Income Payments Subjected to Final Withholding Taxes — the yearly alphalist a withholding agent files listing every payee it paid income subject to final tax, as distinct from compensation or creditable withholding tax. It’s easy to confuse with its two better-known siblings, 1604-C and 1604-E, because all three share a similar structure and the same annual filing rhythm, but each covers a different category of withholding.

Keep Your Alphalists Organized Across All Three Forms FREE →

What does BIR Form 1604-F cover? #

BIR Form 1604-F reports payees who received income subject to final withholding tax during the calendar year — meaning the tax withheld at source is the complete and final settlement of tax on that income, not an advance credit the payee later applies against other tax due. Common categories of final withholding tax include dividends, certain interest income, royalties, prizes and winnings above the de minimis threshold, and other final-tax income types defined across various NIRC sections. Each payment in this category should already have a corresponding BIR Form 2306 — the Certificate of Final Tax Withheld at Source — issued to the payee; 1604-F is the annual, consolidated reporting of those same payments to the BIR.

How 1604-F differs from 1604-C and 1604-E #

The three annual alphalist returns split by the type of withholding tax involved, and mixing them up is one of the more common alphalist filing mistakes. BIR Form 1604-C, 1604-E, and 1604-F share a January 31 filing deadline and a similar payee-listing structure, but each reports a different tax category:

Form	Covers	Payee certificate
BIR Form 1604-C	Withholding tax on compensation (employees)	BIR Form 2316
BIR Form 1604-E	Creditable expanded withholding tax (suppliers, professionals, etc.)	BIR Form 2307
BIR Form 1604-F	Final withholding tax (dividends, certain interest, etc.)	BIR Form 2306

A withholding agent that pays both employees and suppliers, and also distributes dividends, may need to file all three — each covering a distinct slice of the same calendar year’s withholding activity.

When is BIR Form 1604-F due, and how is it filed? #

BIR Form 1604-F is due on or before January 31 of the year following the calendar year the final withholding tax was accrued or paid, under Revenue Regulations No. 11-2018 — the same deadline as BIR Form 1604-C, which also falls on January 31. The return is filed together with an accompanying alphalist of payees, prepared in the BIR’s prescribed data layout and submitted electronically as a DAT file through the BIR eSubmission facility, the same general mechanism used for RELIEF, SAWT, QAP, and other alphalist DAT files.

Who typically files it? #

Withholding agents that pay income types subject to final tax file BIR Form 1604-F — most commonly corporations distributing dividends, banks and financial institutions paying certain interest, and other payors of income the NIRC classifies as subject to final rather than creditable withholding. This is a narrower filer population than 1604-C (which covers nearly every employer) or 1604-E (which covers most businesses that pay suppliers and professionals), which is part of why 1604-F gets less individual attention despite sharing the same January 31 deadline.

Summary #

BIR Form 1604-F is the annual counterpart to the BIR Form 2306 certificates a withholding agent issues throughout the year for final withholding tax payments — distinct from the compensation alphalist (1604-C) and the creditable withholding alphalist (1604-E), though all three share a January 31 deadline under RR No. 11-2018. See BIR Annual Alphalist (1604-C, 1604-E, 1604-F) for how the three returns fit together, and What Is BIR Form 2306? for the certificate that feeds into this return.