E-Invoicing Country

Costa Rica

Live

Live since September 2018

Flag of Costa Rica

Mandate Overview

The mandate

Costa Rica operates a mandatory e-invoicing regime under the Dirección General de Tributación (DGT). The Comprobantes Electrónicos system was phased mandatory from January 2018 by sector (medical, accounting, and legal first), reaching full taxpayer coverage by September 1, 2018 and complete universal scope by November 2018. The current schema (v4.4) is in force since 2023, with v4.5 scheduled. Every Comprobante Electrónico must be digitally signed by the issuer and validated by DGT before delivery to the buyer — receipts are returned within three hours of submission.

Timeline

Key milestones

2018
Jan 1, 2018

  • Phased mandate begins (medical, legal, accounting professionals)

Sep 1, 2018

  • Mandatory for all large taxpayer categories

Nov 1, 2018

  • Universal mandate for all VAT-registered businesses

2023
Jun 1, 2023

  • Schema v4.4 mandatory; v4.5 in development

Flowie Coverage

How Flowie supports Costa Rica

Flowie generates Comprobantes Electrónicos XML (v4.4) ready for DGT validation. Local certification partners are typically required for DGT web-service integration, digital signature provisioning, and the validation-acknowledgment cycle.

FAQ

Common questions

When does Costa Rican e-invoicing apply to my company?

All Costa Rican VAT-registered businesses have been required to issue Comprobantes Electrónicos since November 2018, including B2B, B2C, and B2G transactions. Cross-border export documents are also covered.

How long does DGT validation take?

DGT validates and returns the receipt within three hours of submission. Until validated, the Comprobante is provisional — a rejection requires the issuer to correct and resubmit before the document has full legal effect.

Ready for Costa Rica?

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