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Costa Rica e-Invoicing
Last reviewed 2 official sources
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Costa Rica requires income tax and VAT taxpayers to issue comprobantes electrónicos, which the Ministry of Finance accepts or rejects after issue. The last taxpayers joined in November 2018. Schema version 4.4 has been mandatory since 1 September 2025, and e-invoicing services moved from ATV to TRIBU-CR in October 2025.
Previous
1 September 2025
Version 4.4 becomes mandatory
Latest
22 April 2026
Version 4.4 annexes updated, new codes mandatory from 1 November 2026
Next
1 November 2026
New version 4.4 codes mandatory
Costa Rica e-Invoicing Overview
B2B
mandatory
since 1 November 2018Income tax and VAT taxpayers must issue comprobantes electrónicos (factura electrónica, factura electrónica de compra, factura electrónica de exportación, tiquete electrónico, recibo electrónico de pago, credit and debit notes) under the Reglamento de Comprobantes Electrónicos, Decreto 44739-H and the technical provisions of Resolution MH-DGT-RES-0027-2024 . The last taxpayer groups were brought in on 1 September, 1 October and 1 November 2018 by the final digit of their identification number.
B2G
mandatory
since 1 November 2018Suppliers issue the same comprobantes to public bodies. Under Article 8 of Decreto 44739-H , the State, municipalities, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions exempt under special laws and public universities without VAT-taxable activity are exempt from issuing comprobantes but must still receive and confirm those addressed to them.
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Implementation Timeline(8 events)
Key mandate dates. Select a date for detail, or show all updates below.
Final taxpayer groups brought into e-invoicing
1 November 2018
general
TRIBU-CR replaces ATV
6 October 2025
Technical
The Ministry of Finance's TRIBU-CR system began operating at 9:00 on 6 October 2025, replacing ATV, which was partially or fully disabled from 23:45 on 25 September 2025 according to Hacienda's guidance on Resolution MH-DGT-RES-0043-2025 . Hacienda's free invoicing tool, Tico Factura, became available the same day .
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Compliance Regime
CTC Model
Clearance
Each signed XML comprobante is sent to the Ministry of Finance, which has up to three hours to return an acceptance or rejection message. The seller delivers the document to the buyer at the time of sale without waiting for that message. A rejected document has no validity, and only accepted invoices support input VAT credits or deductible expenses.
Standards
Anexos y Estructuras para la Emisión de Comprobantes Electrónicos v4.4
Record-keeping & Reporting
Archiving
5 years under Article 109 of the Code of Tax Norms and Procedures; issuers and electronic receivers keep the XML and confirmation messages; Hacienda's free invoicing tool stores documents for only two months
Technical Formats
XML (Anexos y Estructuras v4.4)
PDF graphic representation
Penalties
Failure to issue or deliver comprobantes (Article 85)
Repeat failure to issue comprobantes (Article 86)
Exemptions
Exempt from issuing and confirming
Exempt from issuing only
Under Article 8 of the same decree, the State, municipalities, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions exempt under special laws, public universities, political parties and solidarity associations, among others, do not issue comprobantes but must receive and confirm them, provided they carry out no VAT-taxable activity.
Latest Update
Technical Update
22 Apr 2026Version 4.4 annexes updated, new codes mandatory from 1 November 2026
The Dirección General de Tributación updated the version 4.4 annexes to accept alphanumeric legal-entity identification numbers, once the registry announces them, and to add new reference codes. Issuing systems must use the new codes from 1 November 2026, and taxpayers that have already implemented them may start earlier.
Official Sources
Related Countries
Frequently asked questions about e-Invoicing in Costa Rica
Yes, e-Invoicing is mandatory in Costa Rica for B2B (since 1 November 2018) and B2G (since 1 November 2018) transactions.
B2B e-Invoicing in Costa Rica is mandatory since 1 November 2018. Income tax and VAT taxpayers must issue comprobantes electrónicos (factura electrónica, factura electrónica de compra, factura electrónica de exportación, tiquete electrónico, recibo electrónico de pago, credit and debit notes) under the Reglamento de Comprobantes Electrónicos, Decreto 44739-H and the technical provisions of Resolution MH-DGT-RES-0027-2024 . The last taxpayer groups were brought in on 1 September, 1 October and 1 November 2018 by the final digit of their identification number.
B2G e-Invoicing in Costa Rica is mandatory since 1 November 2018. Suppliers issue the same comprobantes to public bodies. Under Article 8 of Decreto 44739-H , the State, municipalities, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions exempt under special laws and public universities without VAT-taxable activity are exempt from issuing comprobantes but must still receive and confirm those addressed to them.
Costa Rica supports the following e-Invoice formats: XML (Anexos y Estructuras v4.4), PDF graphic representation.
Costa Rica uses the following e-Invoicing standards: Anexos y Estructuras para la Emisión de Comprobantes Electrónicos v4.4. Archiving requirement: 5 years under Article 109 of the Code of Tax Norms and Procedures; issuers and electronic receivers keep the XML and confirmation messages; Hacienda's free invoicing tool stores documents for only two months.
Each signed XML comprobante is sent to the Ministry of Finance, which has up to three hours to return an acceptance or rejection message. The seller delivers the document to the buyer at the time of sale without waiting for that message. A rejected document has no validity, and only accepted invoices support input VAT credits or deductible expenses.
Costa Rica has penalties for e-Invoicing non-compliance. Failure to issue or deliver comprobantes (Article 85): Two base salaries, CRC 924,400 for 2026, with no reduction available, under Article 24 of Decreto 44739-H and Hacienda's table of sanctions; Repeat failure to issue comprobantes (Article 86): Closure of the business for five calendar days where the taxpayer repeats the offence after a prior final ruling, per the table of sanctions; Failure to send the XML file (Article 83): Not sending the XML to the Ministry of Finance is sanctioned under Article 83 of the Code of Tax Norms and Procedures, as provided in Article 24 of Decreto 44739-H.
The next e-Invoicing deadline in Costa Rica is 1 November 2026: New version 4.4 codes mandatory. Issuing systems must use the reference codes added in the April 2026 annex update from this date, as set out in the DGT communiqué.
B2C e-Invoicing in Costa Rica is mandatory since 1 November 2018. Sales to consumers are documented with a tiquete electrónico, one of the comprobante types listed in Article 9 of Decreto 44739-H . Hacienda's free invoicing tool, Tico Factura, has been available since 6 October 2025 in the TRIBU-CR Virtual Office.
Exemptions from Costa Rica e-Invoicing may apply to: Exempt from issuing and confirming, Exempt from issuing only. Check specific criteria as exemptions vary by transaction type and business size.