Costa Rica Factura Electronica de Compra: 4.4 Guide

A Costa Rica factura electronica de compra is a buyer-issued electronic invoice used when the normal supplier-issued flow does not apply. Under version 4.4, it mainly covers purchases of services or intangible goods from non-domiciled suppliers and certain non-taxpayer scenarios, especially used-goods purchases. Tangible imports generally stay outside this workflow because the DUA and the foreign supplier invoice usually support the transaction instead.

Situation	Fast answer	Why it matters
You are buying services or intangible goods from a non-domiciled supplier	Use a Factura Electronica de Compra	The buyer may need to become the issuer because the supplier is outside the normal domestic issuer framework
You are buying used goods from a non-taxpayer, or another qualifying purchase where the seller is not issuing the required electronic document	Use a Factura Electronica de Compra	The transaction can still need formal electronic support even though the seller is not issuing the invoice
You are importing tangible goods	Do not use it for the import workflow in the ordinary case	Tangible imports are generally supported by the DUA plus the foreign supplier invoice instead
The supplier's tax status, domicile, or transaction type is unclear	Review the facts before issuing anything	Classification comes first, because the issuer logic depends on who the supplier is and what was actually purchased

For urgent classification, use a simple sequence. First, classify the transaction: is it a service, an intangible, a used-goods purchase from a non-taxpayer, or a tangible import. Second, confirm whether the buyer becomes the issuer because the supplier is not the party issuing the usual electronic invoice. Third, complete the version 4.4 document correctly, including the required identification and reference treatment, and retain the supporting records that explain why the FEC was used.

Which Transactions Trigger a Factura Electronica de Compra Under Version 4.4

Under version 4.4, the buyer-issued workflow is mainly triggered in two families of transactions.

First, it applies when a Costa Rican taxpayer buys services or intangible goods from a non-domiciled supplier. That is the core Costa Rica purchase invoice non-domiciled supplier scenario. The supplier is outside Costa Rica's local issuer framework, but the transaction can still have Costa Rican VAT consequences, especially where inversion del sujeto pasivo applies. In practical terms, AP is asking: Did we buy something intangible or service-based from abroad, for use in Costa Rica, from a supplier that is not issuing the domestic tax document the local system expects? If the answer is yes, the buyer may need the factura electronica de compra route rather than treating the foreign invoice alone as complete local support.

Second, the workflow also covers specific purchases where the seller is not issuing the normal supplier-side tax document, especially purchases of used goods from non-taxpayers. This is the operational issue behind Costa Rica factura de compra no contribuyente. The key point is not simply that the seller is informal. It is that the buyer still needs proper electronic support in its records, but the seller is not generating the ordinary Costa Rican electronic voucher that would normally sit behind the AP entry. In those cases, the buyer steps into the issuer role to create the tax-supporting document for the purchase workflow.

Why does the buyer become the issuer? Because AP still needs a compliant electronic tax document behind the accounting entry. When the supplier cannot issue that document inside the domestic system, the buyer cannot rely only on the commercial invoice or receipt that came in. The buyer-issued document fills that gap and gives the team something it can book, reference, and retain as formal support.

For foreign services, this is where the reverse-charge question matters most. Many teams searching for Costa Rica foreign supplier services purchase invoice are really trying to answer a narrower AP question: We bought software, consulting, digital advertising, or another cross-border service, and the foreign vendor sent us its own invoice. Is that enough? Often, no. The foreign invoice may support the commercial expense, but it does not automatically replace the buyer-issued Costa Rican document needed to reflect the local tax treatment when the buyer carries the compliance burden under inversion del sujeto pasivo.

A simple example helps. If your company in San Jose pays a US software provider for a monthly software subscription, the US vendor's invoice is not the same thing as a standard Costa Rican supplier e-invoice. Because the supplier is non-domiciled and the purchase is an intangible service consumed by a Costa Rican taxpayer, the transaction falls into the buyer-issued logic under the purchase-invoice workflow. By contrast, if a Costa Rican vendor sells office cleaning services and issues its own valid local electronic invoice, AP stays in the normal supplier-issued flow. There is no need to replace that with a factura electronica de compra.

A second example covers the non-taxpayer angle. Suppose you buy used equipment from a seller who is not a taxpayer and is not issuing the standard electronic tax document required for the usual supplier-side flow. AP still needs compliant support for the purchase. In that case, the buyer-issued document may be the correct mechanism. The practical classification question is always the same: Is the seller actually providing the normal issuer-side tax document for this transaction, or is the buyer required to generate the compliant record instead?

For day-to-day classification, finance teams should ask three questions before posting:

• Is the supplier non-domiciled, with a service or intangible supplied into Costa Rica?
• Is this a used-goods or other qualifying purchase where the seller is not issuing the normal supplier-side electronic tax document?
• Does the buyer need its own compliant electronic support because the tax and accounting burden cannot rest on the seller's document alone?

If those answers line up, you are usually in buyer-issued territory under version 4.4, not ordinary supplier-invoice processing.

When Tangible Imports Stay Outside This Buyer-Issued Workflow

The March 3, 2025 DGT clarification, summarized in EY's tax alert on the importation of goods, drew the line clearly: tangible imports generally do not require a Factura Electronica de Compra. The acquisition should instead be supported by the foreign supplier invoice together with the customs file, especially the Documento Unico Aduanero (DUA).

The reason this matters is operational. It separates customs-backed purchases of physical goods from the foreign services and intangible transactions that can fall into the buyer-issued workflow discussed elsewhere in Costa Rica's broader e-invoicing framework and document types. Once the DUA exists, it becomes the anchor document for how the import is evidenced, taxed, and reviewed. For imported goods, the foreign supplier invoice and customs records carry the transaction file in a way that a Costa Rica foreign supplier purchase invoice does not.

This distinction is also important because conflicting market commentary has circulated over time. You do not need to reconstruct every public disagreement to apply a usable rule. For ordinary imports of tangible goods, start from the customs-backed file, including the DUA, and do not assume the buyer-issued workflow applies automatically.

One caution remains for borderline cases. If a transaction combines imported goods with installation, licensing, technical support, or another service element, review the facts carefully before assuming one document covers the whole operation. Mixed transactions often need a closer look at what was actually purchased, how it was delivered, and which part of the file is supported by customs documentation versus a separate tax treatment under DGT rules.

The Version 4.4 Fields and References That Make This Document Different

On a Costa Rica factura electronica de compra 4.4, the fields that matter most are not cosmetic. In the Anexos y Estructuras Version 4.4 issued by the Ministerio de Hacienda de Costa Rica, Costa Rica's version 4.4 electronic voucher annexes make clear that reference-document code 16, Comprobante de Proveedor No Domiciliado, may only be used in this workflow, and the special identification types Extranjero No Domiciliado and No Contribuyente are likewise restricted to it. That is what separates a valid buyer-issued tax document from a vague AP note.

• If the supplier is foreign and not domiciled in Costa Rica, identify that supplier in the Emisor fields as Extranjero No Domiciliado, code 05. The identification number can carry up to 20 alphanumeric characters, which is useful when the source document does not map cleanly to a Costa Rican ID format. In that case, the usual domestic Ubicacion fields are not mandatory, and the practical address field is Otras Senas Extranjero, completed as precisely as the supplier document allows.

• If the supplier is a domestic seller who is not a taxpayer, use No Contribuyente, code 06, only in the specific Factura Electronica de Compra scenario tied to the sale condition for used goods from non-taxpayers. Here too, the identification field can run up to 20 alphanumeric characters. But if that seller has a Costa Rican domicile, include it. Version 4.4 does not treat No Contribuyente as a reason to leave the seller's location vague.

• Do not push these special identification types onto the buyer side. In this structure, they are exceptional Emisor-side mechanics for the supplier data. The buyer, recorded as Receptor, still needs the buyer's normal registered identification.

The reference block is just as important. In a Factura Electronica de Compra, Informacion de Referencia is mandatory, so the supplier's supporting document cannot stay buried in email or AP notes. When the backing document is from a non-domiciled supplier, use codigo 16, meaning Comprobante de Proveedor No Domiciliado, in the reference-document type field. For teams searching Costa Rica codigo 16 proveedor no domiciliado, the practical rule is narrow: code 16 belongs only in this buyer-issued workflow and only when the referenced document really is the non-domiciled supplier's document.

In the used-goods or other non-taxpayer path, AP is not referencing a non-domiciled supplier document, so it should match the reference fields to the actual seller support on file rather than defaulting to code 16. Once you choose the right reference path, complete it properly: the referenced document number or consecutive, its issue date, the required reference code, and a short reason explaining what the buyer-issued voucher is supporting. That combination of supplier identification, address handling, and mandatory reference data is what makes a Costa Rica factura electronica de compra 4.4 defensible if it is later reviewed by tax, audit, or AP control.

Build an Audit-Ready File Before You Issue the Document

An audit-ready Costa Rica purchase-invoice workflow depends on what is already sitting in the file before the Factura Electronica de Compra is issued. Another reviewer should be able to open the transaction and answer four questions immediately: why this workflow applies, who the supplier is, what source document is being referenced, and where the evidence trail lives.

Use a single review pack built around these controls:

1. Classification memo. Record whether the purchase is a non-domiciled service or intangible, a used-goods purchase from a non-taxpayer, or an excluded import scenario.
2. Supplier-status evidence. Keep the facts that support that classification, such as the supplier's non-domiciled status or the reason the seller is not issuing the normal electronic tax document.
3. Referenced-document match. Save the supplier invoice, receipt, contract support, or other seller document and make sure the reference fields in the buyer-issued voucher match it exactly.
4. Retention package. Keep the classification note, the source document, the reference check, and the reviewer sign-off together so the file shows what AP verified before issuance.

This is where the two main paths diverge in practice. In the non-domiciled supplier path, the file needs to show the foreign supplier document that supports the code 16 reference. In the non-taxpayer path, the file should show the seller document or other underlying support that explains why AP issued the voucher without defaulting to the non-domiciled reference type.

You may see related regional mechanisms, including Chile's comparable buyer-issued purchase invoice workflow and Colombia's buyer-side document for suppliers not obliged to invoice, but those regimes are only points of comparison. They do not replace Costa Rica's own document logic, field requirements, or file-support expectations.

That checklist is what makes the document reviewable later by tax, audit, or AP control. The goal is not just to issue the voucher, but to leave a file that shows why it was issued and exactly what document it references.