Peru is giving large companies just five months to comply with a requirement to partner with a certified Operator of Electronic Services (OSE) for clearing e-invoices, a mandate that will require some companies to seek service providers before the deadline.
As of March 1, 2019, all taxpayers considered a national or regional large company by the tax administration will need to validate invoices with an OSE—a third-party service provider—which will then make the invoices available to the other parties involved in the transaction. The OSE will act as the government’s agent for clearing invoices, validating the information in each invoice before relaying it to the SUNAT, Peru’s tax authority.
Peru OSEs act as e-invoice clearance agents for the government
OSEs will validate invoice information in real-time before sending it to the SUNAT with a maximum delay of one hour. In addition, Peru is requiring OSEs to provide a web portal for sellers, buyers, delivery companies and other invoice recipients. The portal will make available critical information about the documents OSEs have validated. Information available in the portal will include e-invoices, e-receipts, credit notes, debit notes, and the so-called “comprobantes de percepción.”
Although in Peru there are more than 100 Electronic Service Providers, locally known as PSEs or Proveedores de Servicios Electronicos, which provide e-invoice processing and reporting services, the Peruvian government has thus far approved fewer than 10 of those providers as OSEs. Further, companies that are not currently PSEs will have difficulty achieving OSE certification, as the certification process can take months. The upcoming holiday season will also delay certifications.
Will Peru start an OSE e-invoice clearance trend?
Effectively, that means that companies considered large under the current legislation have to partner with an OSE before March 1 or risk being out of compliance with the new mandate. Companies that currently partner with an OSE for e-invoice compliance should be in good position to be in compliance prior to the deadline. Those that do not, however, will need to find an OSE quickly.
Given the copycat nature of e-invoicing mandates in Latin America and around the world, Peru’s aggressive move could signal the start of a trend toward other countries adopting similar mandates. Finding a company with the breadth of functionality and experience to handle the OSE role would then be critical not just in Peru but on a global basis as well.
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Sovos is one of only a few companies certified by the SUNAT to function as an OSE. Learn more about how Sovos has kept companies in compliance in Latin America for more than a decade.
