a. Professional Tax

Professional Tax under the Local Government Code

A province is authorized to levy an annual professional tax on each person engaged in the exercise or practice of a profession requiring government examination, at such amount and reasonable classification as the sangguniang panlalawigan may determine, provided that the tax shall in no case exceed Three hundred pesos (₱300.00)¹.

Every person legally authorized to practice a profession must pay the professional tax to the province where the profession is practiced, or where the practitioner maintains their principal office in case the profession is practiced in several places¹. Upon payment of the corresponding professional tax, the professional is entitled to practice in any part of the Philippines without being subjected to any other national or local tax, license, or fee for the practice of such profession¹. Any individual or corporation employing a person subject to this tax is mandated to require payment by that person of the tax on the profession before employment and annually thereafter¹.

The professional tax is payable annually on or before the thirty-first (31st) day of January¹. However, any person who first begins to practice a profession after the month of January must pay the full tax prior to engaging in that practice¹. Additionally, a line of profession is not exempt from the tax merely because it is conducted alongside another profession for which the tax has already been paid¹.