LAWYERS ARE EXEMPT FROM PAYMENT OF BUSINESS PERMIT

Lawyering is a profession, not a business. Lawyers are public officers, not traders nor businessmen. Thus, lawyers are exempt from paying business permits.

 

When I started my first law office around year 2019, I tend to follow all the processes in our municipality. Being the first lawyer in our municipality, the accounting and licensing department were not yet familiar on the required permits, tax payments and other law office-related licensing. Thus, they just followed the usual process for business establishments and required me to pay a mayor/business permit fee. As a new lawyer who was still not confident of facing the real world outside of my law school classroom, I just paid all the required fees in our municipality in order for me to subsequently process for my BIR application requiring me also to present my mayor’s permit despite the fact that I already paid my Professional Tax.

 

However, during renewal of my mayor’s permit in January of 2020, I contest the business permit fee requirement of our municipality bringing with me a circular issued by the Department of Finance exempting professionals from paying business permits under Local Finance Circular No. 001-2019, to wit:

 

“Section 6. EXEMPTION FROM PAYMENT OF BUSINESS PERMIT. A business permit is issued primarily to regulate the conduct of business or trade. However, an LGU cannot, through the issuance of such permit regulate the practice of a profession, which is within the exclusive domain of the agency or office specifically empowered by law to supervise and regulate the profession.

Unless covered under Section 7 of this Circular, a professional who has paid his/her professional tax shall be exempt from the payment of business permit fee in the operation of his/her clinic or office. However, a professional shall still be required to secure a business permit, at no cost, from the concerned LGU during the registration of office/clinic and renewal thereof, subject to a duly enacted local ordinance.” Local Finance Circular 001-2019

 

            Since then, I no longer pay for my mayor’s permit. However, I need to pay for other service fees imposed by the LGU like for example the fee for sanitation permit and the Bureau of Fire Permit.