Panama advances in the adoption of electronic invoicing and enters the massification phase.
Since 1 June, any Panamanian company can use the electronic invoice and thus communicate with the Directorate General of Revenue (DGI). The mass adoption of e-invoicing in the country comes after years of work on the digitalisation of this process.
The implementation of electronic invoicing in Panama began in 2016 with the creation of the Panama Electronic Invoicing System (SFEP, for its acronym in Spanish). Subsequently, the entire system was designed and a Voluntary Pilot Plan was launched in October 2018.
After more than 2 years, the pilot plan has welcomed 43 companies that have issued more than 17 million electronic invoices. Finally, on 31 July 2020, Executive Decree Nº367 was published, regulating the use of electronic invoicing in the country.
Following the success of the pilot project, Panama has taken another step forward in the implementation of e-invoicing and has begun the massification phase in which all companies in the country can use electronic invoicing.
Electronic invoicing adapted to any company
To enable all companies to adopt electronic invoicing, the DGI has made two systems available:
- Companies that manage approximately 200 invoices per month will have a free SFEP invoicing tool.
- Companies that are able to integrate with the system will be able to do so through a Qualified Authorisation Provider (PAC, for its acronym in Spanish).
Electronic invoicing in LATAM
Panama thus joins the majority of Latin American countries that already use electronic invoicing on a regular basis. Countries such as Mexico and Brazil have been pioneers in electronic invoicing and continue to be a model for the rest of the world to follow.
Other countries such as the Dominican Republic are also at the same stage as Panama. In fact, in the Dominican Republic, as in Panama, there is already talk of taking advantage of the opportunity, since the voluntary phase is only the step prior to making it mandatory.
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