🇨🇷 Costa Rica - E-Invoicing Specifications (Factura Electrónica)

Status: 🟢 Mandatory | Active for all businesses Authority: MH (Ministerio de Hacienda) Platform: MH Electronic Invoice System

1. Context & Overview

Costa Rica has implemented mandatory e-invoicing (factura electrónica) through the Ministry of Hacienda. The system follows a Clearance Model requiring MH pre-authorization before invoice delivery. The rollout has been progressive since 2018.

Date	Scope	Obligation
2018+	Progressive	Initial rollout by sector
Ongoing	All businesses	Continuous MH authorization
Current	Full mandatory	All transaction types

2. Technical Workflow (Clearance Model)

flowchart TD
    S["Invoicerr (Supplier)"] -->|1. Generate XML| X[XML Document]
    X -->|2. Digital Signature| Cert[Digital Certificate]
    Cert -->|3. Submit to MH| MH[Ministerio de Hacienda]
    
    MH -->|4. Validation| V[Schema + Rules Check]
    V -->|5. Authorization| MH
    
    MH -->|6. Return ACK + Number| S
    
    S -->|7. Deliver Invoice| C[Client]
    S -->|8. Store XML| DB[Archive]

🧱 Key Components

Digital Certificate: MH-approved certificates
XML Schema: Hacienda national schema
Sequential Numbering: Mandatory consecutive numbers
Authorization: MH pre-validation

3. Data Standards & Formats

A. Required Format

XML Format: MH national schema
Encoding: UTF-8
Digital Signature: Required

B. Document Types

Code	Type	Description
01	Factura Electrónica	Standard invoice
02	Nota Débito Electrónica	Debit note
03	Nota Crédito Electrónica	Credit note
04	Tiquete Electrónico	Electronic receipt

C. Critical Data Fields

Cédula Jurídica: Business ID (10 digits)
Nombre: Legal name
Dirección: Address
IVA: VAT (13%)
Código Moneda: Currency

4. Business Model & Compliance

A. Workflow

Certificate: Obtain MH digital certificate
XML Generation: Create schema-compliant document
Signing: Apply electronic signature
Submission: Send to MH for authorization
Delivery: Send to buyer

B. Archiving

Retention: 5 years
Format: Original XML

5. Implementation Checklist

Cédula Jurídica: Obtain business registration
Digital Certificate: Acquire MH certificate
XML Engine: Build schema generator
Signature Integration: Implement signing
MH API: Connect to web services
Document Types: Support all types

6. Resources

Ministerio de Hacienda: Hacienda.go.cr
E-Invoicing Portal: Hacienda.gob.pe/factura-electronica