Electronic invoicing in the Dominican Republic began in 2019, through a pilot plan implemented by the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII). This plan included the participation of ten companies from different sectors, which, today, are partially or totally electronic issuers.
The tax authority has stated in recent days that by 2023 electronic invoicing will be mandatory for all taxpayers. At the same time, it invited taxpayers, not only to accept the system before it becomes mandatory, but also to make proposals and solutions to make the necessary adjustments in view of the mandatory implementation.
The e-CF invoices would replace paper invoices as an equivalent in electronic format with the same legal validity. In this system, the transmission of invoices or documents between an issuer and a receiver will be carried out electronically. The special feature of the process is that the electronic issuer must send, in real time, the e-CF to the Tax Administration for validation, facilitating both tax compliance and auditing.
The electronic invoicing system will facilitate to the Tax Administration and taxpayers, respectively, the administration, determination and auditing tasks, as well as the efficient and timely compliance with the payment of taxes in accordance with the regulations in force in the country.
The advance of technology has generated a reform in terms of traditional invoicing systems. Definitely, when we refer to this electronic mechanism, its implementation not only includes tax aspects, but also a legal framework adequate to the needs of its operation, as well as the adaptation of traditional systems to new technologies.
The electronic tax receipts (e-CF) are characterized by guaranteeing the authenticity and integrity of the documents with the use of certificates and digital signatures, granting them legal and tax validity. The DGII has regulated the electronic tax vouchers with the general rules 05-19 and 01-20, respectively. These regulations establish general concepts of e-CFs, their regulation and use.
This new method of invoicing control involves not only a step forward in our tax system, but also a series of technological transformations that need to be implemented by the DGII and the taxpayers to operate with the new e-CFs.
This direct relationship between the taxpayers and the Tax Authority will allow the automation and simplicity of the processes, in the understanding that, after the issuance and validation of the e-CF, such invoices will remain in the Tax Authorities database, thus creating the replacement of the 607 and 608 remittance formats.
Evidently, the challenges and procedures that the implementation of electronic tax receipts will bring will be of vital importance for the proper functioning of this invoicing control system. The experience in countries of the region has been a precedent to be able to determine the effectiveness of the same, this, in view of the fact that the tax systems of Latin America usually have similarities in their processes, such as Chile, Mexico and Guatemala, in which the process began voluntarily and was gradually introduced as mandatory.
