Electronic invoicing in Paraguay: what SIFEN, the KuDE and the CDC are

What SIFEN is

The Sistema Integrado de Facturación Electrónica Nacional, run by DNIT (Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios, the tax agency). It receives every electronic document, checks the signature and the content, and answers approved or rejected with a code that gives the reason.

The most common rejection codes, what causes them and how to fix them are in Errores del SIFEN (in Spanish).

Which documents are issued

The most common are the electronic invoice, the self-invoice, the credit note, the debit note and the remission note. Besides documents, SIFEN receives events: the cancellation of an approved document, the voiding of unused numbers and the recipient’s acceptance or rejection.

The CDC

The Código de Control is a 44-digit number that identifies each document in SIFEN. The issuer builds it from the document type, the RUC, the establishment, the point of issue, the number and the issue date, among other data, and it ends in a check digit. The CDC is how you look the document up in SIFEN.

The KuDE

It is the graphic representation of the electronic document: the PDF or printout the customer receives. It carries the CDC and a QR code that opens the document in the SIFEN lookup. The valid document is the approved XML; the KuDE is how it is shown.

Who must issue electronically

DNIT designates by resolution the taxpayers who become electronic issuers, in groups with a start date. From that date they can no longer issue paper receipts. The most recent designation is RG DNIT 52/2026, groups 19 to 24 (in Spanish). Taxpayers who were not designated can request authorization voluntarily.

What you need to start

• Authorization as an electronic issuer. You request it from DNIT; the answer is Form 364, which arrives in your Marandu inbox with the electronic timbrado.
• Digital certificate. Bought from a certification service provider authorized in Paraguay. Every document is signed with it.
• CSC (taxpayer security code). DNIT issues it with the authorization, one per environment. It goes into the KuDE’s QR code.
• An invoicing system. Your own, a provider’s, or DNIT’s free tool (e-Kuatia'i). It builds the XML, signs it and transmits it to SIFEN.

Cancelling a document

An approved invoice can be cancelled within 48 hours; other documents, within 168 hours (seven days). After that, the transaction is corrected with a credit note.