This blog was last updated on March 11, 2019

In late November, Colombia executed its authority to mandate electronic invoicing compliance prior to the official January 2019 deadline.

The DIAN, Colombia’s tax and customs administration, published a draft of this resolution, which specifies the companies will be subject to eInvoicing. Specifically, this resolution will apply to:

• a) Those designated by the DIAN as “large taxpayers” in resolution 0076 of December 2016
• b) Taxpayers that have already requested folios/numbering ranges for electronic invoices

These companies will have either three or six months to comply with the mandate, depending upon their invoice volume.

The DIAN is moving quickly to finalize its eInvoicing program after identifying several required enhancements following its pilot program, including the move toward a PAC model that will provide real-time validations via approved technology providers. The feedback period from this pilot program has closed as the DIAN accelerates its compliance timeline.

Companies need to act now to ensure compliance with Colombia’s eInvoicing mandate. Even those not named in this initial draft resolution may be added to the list of mandated taxpayers at any time in 2018, at which time they will be given only three months to get their systems and processes up and running.

As companies determine their compliance approach in Colombia, it’s critical to ask:

1. What is the central source of truth for transactional data? Is everything housed in our ERP?
2. How will we handle changes in the mandate, as specific requirements are known to change frequently?
3. What validations and automations should we have in place to ensure accuracy?
4. How is our data archived?
5. What contingency plans do we have in place to ensure constant compliance?