Regulation of Electronic Invoicing

The second transitory paragraph of the regulation mentions:

"Art. 616-1. Invoice or equivalent document (...) Taxpayers obliged to declare and pay the VAT and consumption tax shall issue electronic invoices as from January 1, 2019, under the terms established by the regulations. During the fiscal years 2017 and 2018 taxpayers obliged by the tax authorities to issue electronic invoice will be selected under a sectorial criterion according to the high risk of evasion identified therein and the least effort for its implementation."

The National Tax and Customs Administration (DIAN), has selected those obliged to invoice electronically according to the criteria mentioned in the preceding paragraph, dividing them into different groups as follows:

1. The first group of those obliged to migrate to electronic invoicing was established by Resolution 0072 of December 29, 2017, which provided that taxpayers who had requested authorization of electronic invoicing numbering ranges dealt with in Decree 1929 of 2007 had to migrate and start invoicing electronically on June 29, 2018.

It also provided for an additional term of three (3) months for this type of taxpayers who, in addition to the above, had issued monthly a number of sales invoices and/or equivalent documents exceeding three million (3'000,000) in the period between January 01 and October 31, 2017, i.e., for the latter the obligation began on September 29, 2018. 

1. The second group of those obliged to migrate to electronic invoicing was established by resolution 0010 of February 06, 2018, in this resolution it was established that those who were classified as large taxpayers according to resolution 0076 of 2016 had to migrate and start invoicing electronically on September 01, 2018. This type of taxpayers had the option to request before June 01, 2018, an additional term of maximum three (3) months if they presented technological problems.

2. On August 29, 2018, the DIAN issued a press release in which it indicated that large taxpayers that have not been able to foresee technical inconveniences, could invoice in contingency by stub book or on paper while the inconvenience was being solved.

The third group of taxpayers obliged to migrate to electronic invoicing is the one established in the second transitory paragraph of article 616-1 ET. These are those responsible for sales tax and consumption tax, different from those mentioned in the previous paragraphs, this group must migrate and start invoicing electronically on January 1, 2019.

Let's remember that the Ministry of Finance had published a draft decree, which, among others, established additional dates to comply with the migration of this group of taxpayers, dates that varied according to the ceiling of gross income obtained in the taxable year 2017. Apparently, this remained in draft, since last August 27, 2018, the DIAN published a press release in which it informed that, as from January 1, 2019, it would update ex officio the single tax registry (RUT) of these taxpayers with the liability 37 "obliged to invoice electronically".

So then, if your Company is located within the third group mentioned above, it will be obliged to start electronic invoicing on January 1, 2019, complying with the specifications contained in Decree 2242 of 2015, among others:

1. having a technology service provider in charge of the installation of the software through which the invoices will be issued and received.

2. The invoice will be issued in XML format and must comply with the requirements of Article 617 of the ET (except for the NIT and name of the supplier of the invoice printer, since such requirement will no longer apply). It must also be signed electronically, either by the legal representative, the person obliged to invoice or the technological service provider.

3. Credit and debit notes must also be issued electronically in XML format.

4. Prior to the delivery of the invoice to the client, said supplier must undergo the validation process before the DIAN (necessary to support the respective costs and deductions).

5. Once validated by the DIAN, the invoice will be sent to the receiver, who will have three working days to accept or reject the invoice.

6. The receiver will receive via e-mail two invoices: one in PDF format and the other in XML format and must reject it if it does not comply with the delivery in the XML format indicated by the DIAN, the requirements of article 617 of the ET or the electronic signature.

7. The aforementioned electronic documents must be kept for a term of five (5) years, according to the rule established in Article 632 of the ET.

8. Failure to comply with this obligation will give rise to the penalty contained in Articles 684-2 and 657 of the ET.

It is important to bear in mind that the DIAN has made available to micro and small companies a free platform through which taxpayers may generate invoices, electronic debit and credit notes and contingency invoices, as well as send them to their clients.

In other words, the DIAN can be the technological supplier of the mentioned companies, basically the procedure consists of:

1. Request through the computer systems that the administration has provided for this purpose the authorization.

2. Wait for the DIAN, within 40 working days, to issue the resolution and in turn update the RUT with the responsibility 37 "obliged to invoice electronically".

3. In this process there is no room for testing, since the technological supplier in this case is the DIAN itself.

4. The company that has opted for this system must create the database of purchasers of its goods and services, as well as that of its suppliers.

If additional information is required to advance the qualification of the electronic biller before the DIAN and the registration to apply to the free platform, this office will provide the necessary advice and support on the subject.