IGV and electronic invoicing in Peru (2026): a practical guide

Peru's value added tax is the Impuesto General a las Ventas (IGV), charged together with the Impuesto de Promoción Municipal (IPM) at a combined 18% on most sales of goods and services. Both are administered by the Superintendencia Nacional de Aduanas y de Administración Tributaria (SUNAT). On top of the tax itself, Peru has advance-collection systems (detractions, withholdings and perceptions) and one of the region's most widespread electronic invoicing systems. This guide covers the rules a small business needs in October 2026, with examples in soles (S/).

IGV in Peru at a glance

The rate: still 18%, split differently from 2026

The rate your customers pay does not change, but its two parts do. Law 32387 gradually moves revenue from IGV to the IPM, which funds municipalities:

For most businesses the practical effect is in software and reports: your invoices and registers must split the 18% correctly for each year.

Exports of goods and qualifying services are not subject to IGV. The IGV on the costs of exporting creates a saldo a favor del exportador that can be offset against IGV, income tax or other debts, or refunded.

Reduced rate for small restaurants, hotels and tourist lodgings

Micro and small businesses whose main activity is restaurants, hotels or tourist accommodation pay a special, temporary IGV rate (PwC's summary also lists catering services and food concessions):

The conditions, according to SUNAT:

• annual sales of no more than 1,700 UIT (S/ 9,350,000 at the 2026 UIT), measured over the previous twelve months
• at least 70% of income from restaurant, hotel or tourist accommodation activities
• no economic links with other companies or business groups

If you fail a limit, you charge 18% from the month after the one used for the check, and you can return to the special rate once you meet the limits again. SUNAT verifies the conditions later and collects the difference, with penalties, if the rate was used wrongly.

Who must register: the RUC

Peru has no IGV registration threshold. Anyone who regularly sells goods or services registers in the Registro Único de Contribuyentes (RUC) with SUNAT and charges IGV from the first taxable sale, unless they are in the Nuevo RUS, the simplified regime for very small businesses. Nuevo RUS taxpayers cannot issue facturas or documents that give the buyer an IGV credit, so business customers usually prefer suppliers in the other regimes (Régimen Especial, Régimen MYPE Tributario or the general regime).

Since 1 June 2026, businesses that register in the RUC under one of those regimes are electronic issuers from the day they register, and those leaving the Nuevo RUS become electronic issuers from the first day of the following month (SUNAT Resolution 000075-2026).

Monthly returns, payment and SIRE

IGV is declared and paid every month, usually with Formulario Virtual 621, by the date that SUNAT's annual schedule sets for the last digit of your RUC. The 2026 deadlines fall between the 15th and the 28th of the following month. For example:

Your IGV for the month is the tax on your sales minus the crédito fiscal, the IGV on your purchases backed by valid facturas, minus any IGV withheld or perceived from you. Excess credit carries forward to the following months.

SIRE. The sales and income register (RVIE) and the purchase register (RCE) are kept electronically in SUNAT's Sistema Integrado de Registros Electrónicos (SIRE), where SUNAT prepares a proposal from the electronic invoices it has received. Since June 2026, anyone who becomes obliged to keep these registers does so in SIRE from that period, and the large principal taxpayers with 2024 net income above 2,300 UIT joined from the October 2026 period (SUNAT Resolution 000125-2026).

Late payment of taxes carries SUNAT's moratorium interest of 0.03% a day, or 0.9% a month (PwC).

Detractions, withholdings and perceptions

Peru collects part of the IGV in advance through your customers and suppliers:

• Detractions (SPOT). For listed goods and services, your customer deposits a percentage of the invoice total into your account at the Banco de la Nación and pays you the rest. According to PwC the rates for goods are 1.5%, 4%, 10% or 15%, and for services 10% or 12% (12%, for example, for labour intermediation and for maintenance and repair of movable goods). Your customer can only use the IGV credit once the deposit is made. You can use the money in that account to pay your taxes, and ask for the release of balances that are not used.
• Withholdings (retenciones). Large businesses designated by SUNAT as withholding agents keep 3% of the total of your invoice, IGV included, and pay it to SUNAT for you.
• Perceptions (percepciones). On certain sales and on imports, the seller or customs collects an advance on the buyer's IGV.

All three amounts are credited against your monthly IGV, so record them as carefully as your sales. With detractions and withholdings already reducing what you collect, agree clear payment terms and late-payment interest in your contracts; our guide on how to get paid faster has practical ideas for collections.

Invoices: facturas, boletas and what they must contain

The Reglamento de Comprobantes de Pago (SUNAT Resolution 007-99/SUNAT) sets which document to issue:

• Factura: to buyers who are IGV taxpayers entitled to the tax credit, or who need it to support a cost or expense, and for exports.
• Boleta de venta: to final consumers. It gives no IGV credit and does not support costs. When the total of a boleta is over S/ 700, or the buyer asks for it, you must add the buyer's name and type and number of ID document.

Article 8 of the regulation lists the content of a factura:

An electronic factura has a four-character series starting with F and its own correlative numbering starting at 1, and it is issued to buyers with a RUC (except for exports). It supports the buyer's IGV credit and costs, and its authenticity can be checked on SUNAT's website.

If you invoice in US dollars, as many Peruvian businesses do, keep the exchange rate you used for each document; SUNAT's conversions, for example for the 3% withholding, use the weighted average selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros (SBS).

Credit and debit notes

A nota de crédito electrónica can only refer to an electronic factura that SUNAT has accepted, or to an electronic boleta, issued earlier to the same buyer; one note can modify several documents. Exceptionally, it can be issued until the 15th business day of the following month to cancel a factura or boleta issued to the wrong buyer, or to correct a description that does not match what was sold. A nota de débito electrónica increases the amount of an earlier document.

Record keeping

Keep your registers, electronic invoices and supporting documents at least as long as SUNAT can still audit them: generally four years from 1 January of the year after the return was due, and six if no return was filed.

E-invoicing in Peru: the SEE and what changed in 2026

Peru's Sistema de Emisión Electrónica (SEE), created by SUNAT Resolution 300-2014, covers facturas, boletas, credit and debit notes, dispatch guides and withholding and perception receipts. It offers several ways to issue:

• SEE-SOL: SUNAT's free web portal, accessed with your Clave SOL
• SEE-Facturador SUNAT (SFS): SUNAT's desktop application
• SEE-Del contribuyente: your own systems, sending documents directly to SUNAT
• SEE-OSE: through an Operador de Servicios Electrónicos, an authorised operator that validates documents on SUNAT's behalf

Electronic facturas are sent to SUNAT or to an OSE, which returns a receipt (CDR) stating whether they were accepted; boletas can be sent individually or in a daily summary. Nearly all businesses are designated electronic issuers.

Changes in 2025 and 2026:

• 1 June 2026: new RUC registrants in the general, special or MYPE regimes are electronic issuers from the day they register, and must keep their registers in SIRE from the start (Resolution 000075-2026/SUNAT).
• October 2026: large principal taxpayers with 2024 net income above 2,300 UIT move their sales and purchase registers to SIRE (Resolution 000125-2026/SUNAT).
• 2027: SUNAT is bringing remaining paper "authorised documents", such as documents for airport services, into the electronic system; Resolution 000143-2026/SUNAT postponed that change to 1 January and 1 April 2027.

To issue valid electronic invoices you need SUNAT's own tools, an OSE, or software that sends documents to SUNAT under the SEE rules. If your invoicing software is not one of those, you need one for that step.

Worked example in soles

You run a small IT maintenance business in Lima and invoice a client in 2026:

If the service is subject to a 12% detraction, your client deposits S/ 1,416.00 (12% of S/ 11,800.00) into your Banco de la Nación account and pays you S/ 10,384.00.

In the same month you buy equipment and services of S/ 4,000.00 plus S/ 720.00 of IGV and IPM, backed by facturas. Your tax for the month is S/ 1,800.00 − S/ 720.00 = S/ 1,080.00, which you can pay partly with the detraction funds.

A small restaurant that meets the MYPE conditions bills a meal of S/ 100.00 plus 10.5% (S/ 8.00 IGV and S/ 2.50 IPM): S/ 110.50.

Common mistakes

1. 1Using last year's split. The total is still 18%, but in 2026 it is 15.5% IGV and 2.5% IPM.
2. 2Applying the 10.5% restaurant rate without checking the 1,700 UIT and 70% limits every month.
3. 3Issuing a boleta to a business customer, who then cannot use the IGV credit or support the cost.
4. 4Leaving out the buyer's details on boletas over S/ 700.
5. 5Ignoring detractions: a customer who does not deposit loses the IGV credit, and money that sits in your detraction account is cash you cannot spend freely.
6. 6Correcting a factura by issuing a new one instead of a credit note, or trying to annul a factura issued to the wrong buyer after the 15th business day of the following month.
7. 7Missing the deadline for your RUC digit, which costs 0.03% a day in interest plus penalties.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly numbers your invoices sequentially per series and applies Peru's tax rates on every invoice. Credit notes are linked to the original invoice, invoice PDFs go out in your client's language, and you can invoice in soles, dollars and other currencies. Each invoice can carry a card payment link, you see when your client opened it, and automatic reminders go out 3, 14 and 30 days after the due date; recurring invoices handle monthly services. Scan supplier receipts and the tax is read automatically. Clientlly keeps sales and purchase tax books per rate, including exports, and prepares tax reports for you and your accountant (contador), with Excel and PDF exports. You can import clients, suppliers, products and opening balances from Excel or CSV, and use the mobile app on the go.

Clientlly is not an OSE and does not send documents to SUNAT: to issue valid electronic invoices in Peru you need SUNAT's own tools, an OSE or SEE-compliant software for that step. See the invoicing features and accounting.