Electronic invoicing in Costa Rica: what changes on November 1, 2026

Starting November 1, 2026, an update to the version 4.4 Anexos y Estructuras becomes mandatory. That is the technical document that defines how every electronic receipt in Costa Rica is built. Hacienda, the tax authority, announced it in April, and it has been available in both testing and production since then.

This is not a new invoice version: it is still 4.4. The changes are specific, and your invoicing provider handles most of them. It is still worth confirming before that date.

What changes

New codes for correcting and referencing receipts. The update adds reference codes used mostly on credit and debit notes:

• Codes 13, 14, and 15, to cancel, correct, or replace a receipt issued with a material error, so the accounting effect lands in the right period.
• Code 16, to reference a receipt that Hacienda rejected.
• Code 17, to apply a payment to an electronic payment receipt (Recibo Electrónico de Pago).
• Code 12 is adjusted, covering the accounting effect of a credit note.
• Codes 19 and 20, to reference an export invoice and an electronic payment receipt.

Corporate ID numbers with letters. Identification fields now accept alphanumeric corporate ID numbers (cédula jurídica). The National Registry will start issuing them because the numeric sequence is running out. An example of the new format is 3-101-A00001.

Clearer descriptions for several fields in the technical document, to reduce filling errors.

Does your company need a new ID number?

No. Existing corporate ID numbers remain valid, and there is nothing to file. The new format applies to companies registered after a date the National Registry has not yet set.

What does matter is that your invoicing system accepts IDs with letters once a client or supplier has one. Otherwise you will not be able to invoice them or record their receipts.

What to do before November 1

1. Ask your invoicing provider whether they have implemented the April 2026 update to the version 4.4 annexes. Get the answer in writing.
2. If you issue credit notes often, review with your accountant which of the new codes applies to each case. A wrong code can push the accounting effect into the wrong period.
3. If you run your own system, your technical team needs to download the updated document from the TRIBU-CR Virtual Office, under Comprobantes Electrónicos y Tico Factura.

For technical questions, Hacienda set up the address facturati@hacienda.go.cr.

In short

If your invoicing system is up to date, November 1 should go unnoticed. The risk is in systems that are not updated: a receipt that does not follow the current structure can be rejected by Hacienda, and a rejected invoice has no validity for tax purposes.

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Sources: Dirección General de Tributación announcement on the update to the Anexos y Estructuras version 4.4 (April 2026); KPMG Costa Rica, May 2026 Newsflash.