Electronic invoicing guide
Costa Rica
Digital reporting requirements
Clearance.
Obligatory
Mandatory for B2B, B2C and B2G.
Authority
Ministry of Finance.
DGT – Directorate General for Taxation.
Platform
DGT – Directorate General for Taxation Platform.
Format
Local XML.
Storage time
5 years.
Reporting and processes
Reporting
This country has no reporting obligations.
Processes
All electronic documents and associated documents must have an acceptance message from the Ministry of Finance, otherwise they cannot be used as a means of substantiation of tax credits or as deductible expenses.
The flow works as follows:
- The taxpayer sends an XML to the Ministry of Finance of an invoice for validation and receipt of the Inland Revenue Message.
- The Ministry of Finance receives the invoice and has up to 3 hours to validate it and send an acknowledgement of receipt of acceptance or rejection. This message will accompany the invoice sent to the recipient.
- The recipient must accept or reject the invoice with a new message.
In Costa Rica’s e-invoicing flow, there are two key messages that will travel along with the electronic documents.
- Message from the Ministry of Finance: Message that the Ministry of Finance gives in response to the issuer of the electronic invoice indicating its Approval or Rejection. The validations by the Ministry of Finance will be at a structural level in addition to the semantic validations (amounts, addresses, etc.).
- Recipient’s message: Message that the recipient of the electronic invoice sends to the Ministry of Finance accepting, partially accepting or rejecting it.
The confirmation or rejection by the recipients “must be sent to the Directorate General of Taxation for validation within the first 8 working days of the month following the respective transaction or operation. In case of rejection, a new confirmation message must be sent,” according to DGT-R-063-2018.
All electronic receipts and associated documents must have an acceptance message from the Ministry of Finance, otherwise they cannot be used to support tax credits or deductible expenses.
Upcoming legislative changes
Effective June 1, 2025
- New electronic receipt: “Electronic payment receipt” added.
- New identification types: “Non-resident foreigner” and “Non-taxpayer” for purchase e-invoices.
- New sales conditions: Includes “Operating lease” and “Financial lease.”
- Discount types specified: Covers royalties, VAT charged to customers, and bonuses.
- New exemption category: “Exemption for free trade zone.”
- New document types: Includes guarantee deposits, fines, penalties, and default interest.
The changes take effect on June 1, 2025, but early adoption is allowed from April 1, 2025.
Links of Interest and documents
https://www.hacienda.go.cr/
Documents
- Electronic invoice
- Electronic debit note
- Electronic credit note
- Electronic ticket 04
- Confirmation of acceptance of the electronic receipt
- Confirmation of acceptance partial of the electronic receipt
- Confirmation of rejection of the electronic receipt
- Electronic export invoice.
- Electronic purchase invoice (Applies to transactions with non-domestic suppliers or individuals not registered as taxpayers.)
- *New Electronic payment receipt(Supports documentation of partial payments for goods or services sold on credit.Additionally, entities authorized to receive deductible donations are exempt from issuing electronic checks but must issue certificates for donations)
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