A BIR Authority to Print is the permit the Bureau of Internal Revenue issues to a business so that a BIR-accredited printer can produce its manual invoices, each carrying a government-approved serial number. You apply on BIR Form 1906, either at the Revenue District Office covering your principal place of business or online through the BIR’s Online Registration and Update System (ORUS). The permit itself is free under Section 238 of the amended Tax Code; the only cost tied to the online route is a ₱30 Documentary Stamp Tax.1Lawphil. Republic Act No. 11976 – Ease of Paying Taxes Act
Anything you print without one has no legal standing for tax purposes, and the rules changed enough in 2024 that even long-running businesses should recheck their invoice layouts before they place a reprint order.
Who Needs an ATP
Every business in the Philippines that issues manual invoices needs an ATP before printing. That covers newly registered businesses printing for the first time, existing businesses that have exhausted their current booklets, and businesses that need to reprint because a registered detail changed, such as a new trade name or a relocated office.2Bureau of Internal Revenue. Processing of Application of Authority to Print (ATP) Invoices
Each branch that maintains its own serialized invoices needs its own ATP reflecting that branch’s details. Businesses using a Computerized Accounting System follow a separate track for their system-generated invoices and do not go through the standard ATP process for those documents. The ATP requirement is specific to manual invoices, whether bound booklets or loose-leaf forms.
Documents Required
The paperwork is lighter than most business owners expect. For manual bound invoices you need a completed BIR Form 1906, a final clear sample of the invoice layout you intend to print, and, if this is not your first ATP, either a photocopy of your last ATP, a Printer Certificate of Delivery, or one booklet from your previous ATP batch for verification.3Bureau of Internal Revenue. BIR Form 1906 – Application for Authority to Print Invoices
For manual loose-leaf invoices, add a photocopy of your Permit to Use Loose Leaf Invoices to the same set. If a representative is filing on your behalf, an individual taxpayer provides a Special Power of Attorney and a corporate taxpayer provides a board resolution or secretary’s certificate naming the representative, plus government-issued IDs for the signatory and the representative.3Bureau of Internal Revenue. BIR Form 1906 – Application for Authority to Print Invoices
Form 1906 itself asks for your chosen printer’s TIN, accreditation number, and accreditation date. The printer must be BIR-accredited; only accredited printers are authorized to produce invoices, and the BIR maintains the list.4E-Library of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. BIR Revenue Regulations No. 15-2012
How to Apply
At the Revenue District Office
The over-the-counter route is to submit Form 1906 and the supporting documents in person at the RDO with jurisdiction over your principal place of business. A tax officer checks the submission for completeness and verifies that your sample layout carries every mandatory field. Turnaround depends on the office’s workload, though most complete applications are resolved within a few business days.
Through ORUS
The digital option is the BIR’s Online Registration and Update System at orus.bir.gov.ph. You create an account, complete the online form, and upload your documents. The BIR reviews the submission and emails you the result. Once approved, you pay the ₱30 Documentary Stamp Tax online and download the approved ATP from your ORUS profile. The BIR’s stated processing time for this route is three working days.5Bureau of Internal Revenue. Application for Registration Including Application for Authority to Print (ATP) – Online thru ORUS
After you have the approved ATP, hand it to your accredited printer. The ATP is what legally authorizes the printer to run your booklets, and the printer must confirm that your layout meets BIR requirements before starting the batch.4E-Library of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. BIR Revenue Regulations No. 15-2012
What Must Appear on the Printed Invoice
Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024, which implements the invoicing provisions of the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, sets the minimum content for every printed invoice. Get this right at the sample-layout stage; a missing element is the most common reason an application stalls and the most common audit finding later.
- Seller identification: your registered business name (business style), TIN, and business address.
- Transaction details: date, quantity, unit cost, and description of the goods sold or services rendered.
- Total amount due, with the VAT component broken out if applicable.
- Buyer details when the buyer is VAT-registered: name, business style, address, and TIN.
- VAT status: a statement that the seller is VAT-registered and whether the sale is subject to VAT or exempt.
- Printer details: name, address, TIN, and accreditation certificate number of the printer.
- A statement that the invoice is valid for five years from the date of the ATP.
Non-VAT sellers use the same layout without the VAT-specific lines. All invoices must be serially numbered, and the series must match what the ATP approved.1Lawphil. Republic Act No. 11976 – Ease of Paying Taxes Act
For VAT-exempt transactions, the invoice must carry the phrase “VAT-EXEMPT SALE” together with “THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT VALID FOR CLAIM OF INPUT TAX.” For zero-rated sales, it must carry “ZERO-RATED SALE.” Businesses handling mixed transaction types often trip on these phrases.7Bureau of Internal Revenue. RMC No. 77-2024 Annex A1-B6
Validity and When to Reapply
Revenue Regulations No. 6-2022 previously removed the five-year expiration on ATPs and told taxpayers to omit the validity phrase from their invoices.8Bureau of Internal Revenue. Revenue Regulations No. 6-2022 Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024, issued to implement the EOPT Act, then listed a five-year validity statement among the mandatory invoice contents. As the more recent regulation and the one that specifically implements the EOPT Act, RR 7-2024 controls. In practical terms, print the five-year validity statement dated from your ATP, and plan to secure a fresh ATP and reprint before that window closes.6Bureau of Internal Revenue. Revenue Regulations No. 7-2024
You will also need a new ATP whenever you exhaust the approved serial number series, change your business name or trade style, relocate your principal office, or update any other registered information that appears on the invoice.
What Changed Under the Ease of Paying Taxes Act
Republic Act No. 11976 rewrote several rules that matter for anyone applying for an ATP today. The most visible change: the Invoice is now the primary document for both goods and services. The old split between Sales Invoice for goods and Official Receipt for services is gone.9Bureau of Internal Revenue. RMC No. 77-2024 Clarification on Invoicing Requirements
If you still hold unused Official Receipt booklets, you have two choices. Keep using them as supplementary documents, not as proof of sale for input tax claims, by stamping each page with “THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT VALID FOR CLAIM OF INPUT TAX.” Or convert them into invoices by crossing out “Official Receipt” and stamping “Invoice” or a descriptive variant such as “Cash Invoice” or “Service Invoice.”9Bureau of Internal Revenue. RMC No. 77-2024 Clarification on Invoicing Requirements
The Act also raised the invoicing threshold for non-VAT businesses from ₱100 to ₱500 per transaction, while VAT-registered businesses must still issue an invoice for every sale regardless of amount. The ₱500 annual registration fee that used to fall due each January has been abolished, and the amended Section 238 states plainly that the ATP is issued free of charge.1Lawphil. Republic Act No. 11976 – Ease of Paying Taxes Act
Penalties for Skipping the ATP or Using Bad Invoices
The BIR enforces the ATP and invoicing rules on two tracks. Failure to issue invoices, issuing invoices with missing or false information, or using unregistered documents carries a fine of ₱1,000 to ₱50,000 and imprisonment of two to four years for each violation.10Bureau of Internal Revenue. Schedule of Compromise Penalties Broader failures, such as not filing required returns, not supplying accurate information, or willfully disregarding BIR rules and record-keeping requirements, carry a fine of at least ₱10,000 and imprisonment of one to ten years.11Bureau of Internal Revenue. Penalties for Violations of the National Internal Revenue Code
In practice the BIR often settles through compromise penalties instead of pursuing criminal charges. The compromise schedule shows second offenses routinely hitting the ₱50,000 ceiling for printing invoices without an ATP, using unregistered invoices, or issuing documents with missing information such as the correct amount or TIN.10Bureau of Internal Revenue. Schedule of Compromise Penalties
Where Electronic Invoicing Fits In
The ATP process covers manual invoicing. The BIR is pushing certain taxpayers into the Electronic Invoicing System instead, and Revenue Regulations No. 26-2025 sets a December 31, 2026 compliance deadline for three groups: businesses engaged in electronic commerce or internet transactions classified as small, medium, or large taxpayers (micro taxpayers are exempt for now); taxpayers under the Large Taxpayers Service or classified as large taxpayers under the EOPT Act; and businesses already using a Computerized Accounting System, computerized books of accounts with electronic invoicing capability, or other invoicing software.12Bureau of Internal Revenue. Revenue Regulations No. 26-2025
Under the EIS, sales data must be transmitted to the BIR in real time or within three days of each transaction. Businesses outside those three categories keep using the manual ATP process until the BIR expands the mandate. If your business is inside them, plan the transition now rather than reprinting another five-year run of manual invoices you may not finish.