BIR Form 1902 is the "Application for Registration for Individuals Earning Purely Compensation Income (Local and Alien Employee)". You use it once, when you start your first job and have no TIN yet. Under NIRC Sec. 236(A), as amended by RA 11976, every person subject to internal revenue tax registers once, "either electronically or manually", and an employee does so "within ten (10) days from date of employment". The current form is the October 2025 (ENCS) version on the BIR website.
Who files Form 1902, and who uses another form
- Use 1902: an employee whose only income is compensation, under one of the three taxpayer types printed on the form: Local, Resident Alien or Special Non-Resident Alien.
- Use 1901 instead: self-employed individuals (single proprietors and professionals), mixed-income individuals, non-resident aliens engaged in trade or business, estates and trusts. Those groups are listed on the October 2025 Form 1901.
- Already have a TIN? Do not file 1902 again. The law requires you to register once, and the form itself warns: "Possession of more than one Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is criminally punishable". Changes such as a new employer go through an update of your registration information (NIRC Sec. 236(C) and (D)).
How Form 1902 is filed: ORUS first
The employer secures the TIN for its new hire. The form's documentary requirements describe the manual route only for the case of an "employer manually securing TIN on behalf of its employees due to system unavailability or technical issue", and ask for a "printed copy of ORUS error message". So the normal channel is the BIR's Online Registration and Update System (ORUS), and paper filing at the Revenue District Office is the fallback.
- Give your employer's HR team one government-issued ID that shows your name, address and birthdate (a passport bio page for foreign nationals).
- Your employer registers you through ORUS (orus.bir.gov.ph) within ten days of your start date. Count the days from your hire date: a hire on June 1 must be registered by June 11.
- If ORUS is down or shows an error, the employer files the paper form with the extra documents listed below.
- The BIR issues the TIN: nine digits plus a five-digit branch code, shown on the form as 000-000-000-00000.
What each part of the October 2025 form asks for
| Part | Items | What you enter |
|---|---|---|
| Part I: Taxpayer/Employee Information | 1 to 22 | TIN if you already have one, taxpayer type (Local, Resident Alien, Special Non-Resident Alien), full name, gender, civil status, date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, father's name, citizenship, local and foreign address, an ID with its number and dates, and contact details. Email is marked required. The PhilSys Card Number has its own box (item 2). |
| Part II: Spouse Information | 23 to 27 | If married: spouse's employment status, name, TIN, and employer's name and TIN. |
| Part III: Multiple Employments | 28 to 29 | Only if you had two or more employers in the same calendar year: successive (previous employers this year) or concurrent (at the same time), with each employer's name and TIN, then your signed declaration. |
| Part IV: Primary/Current Employer | 30 to 38 | Filled in by the employer: head or branch office, TIN, RDO code, name, address, contact details, your hire date, and the employer's signed declaration. |
The BIR fills in the registration date, RDO code and municipality code. The form pre-prints the tax type as income tax, the return as BIR Form 1700 and the ATC as II 011.
Documentary requirements
As printed on the October 2025 form:
- Local employees (already hired): any government-issued ID, such as a PhilID or ePhilID, passport or driver's license, that shows your name, address and birthdate. If the ID has no address, add any proof of residence. One photocopy.
- Foreign nationals: passport bio page, with the date of entry or arrival stamp and the exit or departure stamp if applicable. One photocopy.
- Married female employees: marriage contract, one photocopy.
- Manual filing because ORUS failed: a letter of authority on company letterhead signed by the President or HR Head, the signatory's and the authorized person's government IDs with wet specimen signatures, a transmittal list of newly hired employees, and the printed ORUS error message.
The form lists no fees to be paid. Form 1901, by contrast, lists ₱30 documentary stamp tax for the Certificate of Registration.
After you get your TIN
Keep the TIN for life and give it to every later employer. Your employer withholds tax from your pay and gives you BIR Form 2316 each year. When you change jobs, update your registration instead of applying again.