Electronic invoicing in Panamá: complete guide

Context: what changed in January 2026

On January 1, 2026, Resolución 201-6299 of the DGI (published July 2025) took effect, restricting the state's free facturador to very small businesses. From that date on, any company with annual revenue of B/.36,000 or more, or issuing 100+ invoices a month, must contract a PAC (Authorized Certification Provider).

Most formal businesses exceed at least one of those thresholds. In practice, the restriction forces the entire productive tissue of Panamá to migrate to commercial SFEP solutions. FacturaHQ is one of them — with one distinction: we are built in Panamá, specifically for this case.

What is SFEP?

The Panama Electronic Invoicing System (SFEP) is the legal and technical framework the DGI established to ensure all fiscal documents (invoices, receipts, credit and debit notes, export documents) are emitted electronically, digitally signed, and validated in real time against DGI servers.

Every valid document receives a CUFE (Unique Electronic Invoice Code), which is its fiscal identifier. Without a CUFE, the invoice does not exist for DGI purposes.

The threshold: B/.36,000 / 100 invoices

• If you invoice less than B/.36,000 per year and issue fewer than 100 invoices per month, you may continue using the DGI free facturador.
• Exceeding either threshold means you must use a PAC from January 2026 onwards.
• It is not a revenue cap or a punishment for growth — the state simply cannot scale the free service to the country's volume.

What does a PAC do?

A PAC transmits every document to the DGI, waits for validation, generates the CUFE, digitally signs the resulting XML and stores it securely. FacturaHQ uses Alanube as an authorized PAC — one of the established regional providers with local infrastructure.

Documents FacturaHQ issues

• Electronic invoice (01) — sale of goods or services.
• Receipt (02) — end consumer.
• Credit note (03) — returns or discounts.
• Debit note (04) — additional charges.
• Export document — sales outside Panamá.

7% ITBMS and other rates

Panama's VAT (ITBMS) is 7% general, with special rates of 10% (lodging, liquor) and 15% (tobacco). FacturaHQ automatically applies the right rate per product or service, including exemptions and exclusions.

72-hour contingency mode

DGI allows you to issue documents in contingency mode for up to 72 consecutive hours, for internet outages or DGI-side downtime. FacturaHQ manages this flow automatically: documents are queued and transmitted as soon as DGI is back online.

5-year archive

Every document must be preserved for 5 years with a verifiable timestamp. FacturaHQ includes this storage at no extra cost across all plans, with instant search and export in PDF, XML and ZIP.

Qualified digital signature

To issue SFEP you need a qualified digital signature, issued by an authorized certifier in Panamá. The approximate cost is B/.50 one-time, valid for several years. FacturaHQ will soon include an assisted flow to obtain it.