Businesses Operating in Chile
How do businesses comply with Chile's DTE electronic billing system?
Chile's DTE (Documento Tributario Electronico) system has operated since 2003, making Chile one of the pioneers of e-invoicing. All businesses must issue DTEs for taxable and non-taxable transactions. DTEs are signed with an electronic certificate, submitted to the SII (Servicio de Impuestos Internos), and transmitted to the buyer. SII validates and provides an acceptance code (CAF - Codigo de Autorizacion de Folios) for invoice numbering.
How does the Chilean DTE issuance workflow operate?
The DTE issuance process involves several steps:
- CAF request: Obtain folio authorization codes from SII for a block of invoice numbers
- Generate DTE: Create the invoice XML in SII-specified format with an assigned folio number
- Digital signature: Sign the DTE with the business's electronic certificate
- SII submission: Send the DTE to SII for validation and timestamping
- Buyer delivery: Send the signed and SII-accepted DTE to the buyer via email or EDI
- Buyer acceptance: Buyer confirms receipt; has 8 days to accept or reject via SII portal
- Storage: Retain DTE XML for 6 years; accessible to SII on audit
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Chile's IVA rate?
- Chile's IVA (Impuesto al Valor Agregado) rate is 19 percent on taxable sales of goods and services. Exports are zero-rated. Certain agricultural supplies, real estate, and financial services are exempt or have special treatment. Chile's IVA system predates the DTE and the DTE is the electronic mechanism for reporting and transmitting IVA-applicable transactions.
- What is the IECV and how does it relate to DTEs?
- The IECV (Impuesto al Valor Agregado Electronica Electronico de Compras y Ventas) is a monthly electronic VAT ledger that businesses must submit to the SII. The IECV is automatically populated with DTE data, as all DTEs issued and received are tracked by SII. This near-eliminates the manual VAT return preparation burden, as the DTE system generates the underlying data for the monthly IECV report.