ITBIS: Who can bill, how HAS a bill/receipt (Factura) to look, how NOT?

J D Sauser

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I have a number of bills and subsequent receipts showing ITBIS, many of which don't bear much more than:


  • the word "Factura"
  • the date filled out
  • loose description of services and/or goods
  • amounts
  • subtotal
  • ITBIS
  • total
  • a mostly unreadable signature or hieroglyph
  • optionally: a "PAGADO" stamp (which anyone can buy at most any libreria).
NO company header or name.
NO Tax ID number (RNC?)

Basically, one has a receipt saying X-amount of monies were paid to the current non-ID' clerk of a company with no name and that it includes X-amount of ITBIS, (which may be forwarded to the state or pocketed together with the principal amount.

Is that "legal", is it acceptable, has one to to refuse paying ITBIS if a bill/receipt does NOT show some (Tax) ID'ing data?

Thanks! ... J-D.
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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If your issuing an Invoice/Factura, it should have the company name, RNC (Tax ID) and a unique NCF # (Numero Comprobante Fiscal).

The NCF numbers are issued to you by the DGII.
Depending on the types of good and services you offer, they will issue different classes of NCF numbers. The DGII tracks invoices via the RNC and NCF number.

The NCF number looks something like this: A010010010100000399

Currently you need to report all transactions monthly, this is done online via the DGII website. It a very slick and modern system that has greatly increased tax revenues and decreased fraud.
 

jrhartley

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exemptions pinched from a previous post

* exported goods
* basic foodstuffs
* medicines
* fuels
* fertilizers
* books and magazines
* educational materials
* financial services
* transportation services
* home rentals
* utilities
* educational and cultural services
 

J D Sauser

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So, a bill/receipt like the one I described is essentially BS?

How long does it take a company to obtain the proper RNC and NCF? I got my RNC on my companies at the same time I got the company papers. So, are there companies who can have been formed and not yet have these?

What does a company do as long it has not obtained these, not bill ITBIS or take it in and pocket it, or what?



... J-D.
 
Jan 17, 2009
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Most formal companies (don't expect it from a Colmado) do have a RNC. I've been faced with situations though where if I want a "comprobante fiscal" I have to pay an additional 16%. The only place that surprised me is the Todo por 10 store in Puerto Plata. The girls there know how to work it out backwards and even though their prices have the ITBIS included, they break it down and put is separately for you in their legal facturas.
 

TheHun

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Also, there are least 2 type of factura fiscal that I know of:
1, for re-sellers, so they can reclaim the ITBIS from the Gov.
for example: My business buys motor oil to change oil in my customers vehicles. I'm not the end user, they are. I'll get the ITBIS back from the government -the one that I paid over the oil price and I have to send them what my customer paid over my price. But if I buy printer cartridge for the office - since I'm the final user- I have to pay ITBIS. ( I still need factura fiscal to file taxes)
2, well, based on the above, the other type of factura fiscal is for the end-user. No refund of ITBIS can be done.
The factura fiscal has to state which kind of is it!!
My book keeper gave me this info after I was receiving end user factura fiscals on few of the items, parts that we re-sell.
Since it's over bureaucratic (like many other things here) there are many ways to cheat. But I don't know much about that. ;)
 

J D Sauser

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Well, I understand there are facturas con valor fiscal, which can be used to deduct the ITBIS paid against ITBIS received in ones business.
But then there are facturas "normales".
Yet, my question is, even in the case of a factura normal, are there not some minimal standards or requirements as to what there has to be on it, in order for that business to be able to perceive ITBIS (for the state).

Here is one typical example of many (I have edited/deleted some of the information for my and the company's privacy):

scan0001s.jpg


... J-D.
 
Jan 17, 2009
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A couple of years ago, the DGII gave all businesses a deadline to print their comprobantes, both for "uso fiscal" and "para consumidor final". The RNC has to be printed on the factura and each factura is numbered consecutively.

The "factura" shown above has no value as a comprobante fiscal. You wouldn't be able to use anyway since you don't have there enough information on to fill out your monthly ITBIS declaration.
 
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MikeFisher

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A couple of years ago, the DGII gave all businesses a deadline to print their comprobantes, both for "uso fiscal" and "para consumidor final". The RNC has to be printed on the factura and each factura is numbered consecutively.

The "factura" shown above has no value as a comprobante fiscal. You wouldn't be able to use anyway since you don't have there enough information on to fill out your monthly ITBIS declaration.

exactly right.
the factura provided by J.D. is not valid for any tax counts.
the seller sold something illegally, b/c he does not pass on the taxes of the sold product to the gubmin.
the deadline for all businesses to get their comprobantes fiscal papers printed been 2 years ago, so no excuse today's for any company owner not to have such at hand.
and even in case he run out of his comprobantes fiscal papers and over a looong holiday weekend can not get new ones printed, in such case he could use a paper like shown above, with his company name on, RNC on, in the rate included ITBIS shown separately(named transparente here) AND with a NFC number.
every business owner can request new NFC numbers for his business today's even online, so he can use those NFC numbers on a simple piece of paper in case he is awaiting delivery of new ones which are delayed for what ever reason.

if you work like i do myself with foreign companies, in my case i pay numbers of promotions/comercials aso to promote my business in other countries, such bills you have to keep til the 'year's closure'(deadline for closing your bills of the business year 2008 is tomorrow march 30th 2009, you can use them to get counted against your over all the year made winnings.
b/c aside of the monthly paid ITBIS (in case you pay less than the gubmin says you should pay for a specific month proofed by bank account movements/credit cards use aso, the gubmin puts that missing payment on your Tap, til the deadline of the year's closure for taxes, and they bill you a monthly interest of 5.73% on that debit per month), aside of that ITBIS a business has to pay a 25% of the year's winning money, on that yearly count bills like my own foreign ones which show of course no ITBIS come into count.
i've been myself the last weeks in deep sh$$ with the closure of 2008 due to not done job by my former secretary(yes, former, fired her for exactly that a month ago when i received the notice about 'what i still have to pay for 2008).
if you own a small business like i do myself i can only recommend you to take that stuff very serious, the dominican IRS is running a up to date modern system, sure there are always slippy wholes in such for the ones who are experts in using such, but they collect their taxes lately in a very effective modern and computerized way.
good luck
Mike
 

Robert

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Note. You do not need to get invoices printed with the NCF numbers, you can use your own invoices, as long as you use the NCF numbers supplied to your business by the DGII. We use Quickbooks for our accounts and manually add the unique NCF # to the invoice.
 

Robert

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if you own a small business like i do myself i can only recommend you to take that stuff very serious, the dominican IRS is running a up to date modern system, sure there are always slippy wholes in such for the ones who are experts in using such, but they collect their taxes lately in a very effective modern and computerized way.
good luck
Mike

Yes, it can be a minefield, especially as many of this stuff is new and many accountants and book keepers do not keep up to date with new rules, changes etc.

In 2008, DR1 decided to outsource all our accounting, yearly returns, paperwork and tax stuff to a very established local firm (Mejia Lora & Asoc). Talk about make life easier, plus they act as a buffer for any tax issues with the DGII, it's like having a best friend on the inside :)

I cannot count the amount of hours of pain this move has saved us.
 
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Also, there are least 2 type of factura fiscal that I know of:
1, for re-sellers, so they can reclaim the ITBIS from the Gov.
for example: My business buys motor oil to change oil in my customers vehicles. I'm not the end user, they are. I'll get the ITBIS back from the government -the one that I paid over the oil price and I have to send them what my customer paid over my price. But if I buy printer cartridge for the office - since I'm the final user- I have to pay ITBIS. ( I still need factura fiscal to file taxes)
2, well, based on the above, the other type of factura fiscal is for the end-user. No refund of ITBIS can be done.
The factura fiscal has to state which kind of is it!!
My book keeper gave me this info after I was receiving end user factura fiscals on few of the items, parts that we re-sell.
Since it's over bureaucratic (like many other things here) there are many ways to cheat. But I don't know much about that. ;)

Are you sure about this? It was my understanding from how VAT/IVA works around the world, that you sum up the ITBIS you paid to other merchants (ITBIS A) and the ITBIS you collected form all the customers (ITBIS B) and you make a report on ITBIS B - ITBIS A, then you either have positive or negative ITBIS balance. In some countries a negative balance means that the government actually PAYS you a return of VAT/ITBIS, though in most LatAm countries you only get "fiscal ITBIS credit" to us eto offset positive ITBIS balances in other months.

Then, it is also my understanding there are two types of invoices, one with "valor fiscal" and one without, the one with valor fiscal you can reclaim ITBIS through the calculation used above.

But, maybe I am not correct in my assumptions ....
 

Robert

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Are you sure about this? It was my understanding from how VAT/IVA works around the world, that you sum up the ITBIS you paid to other merchants (ITBIS A) and the ITBIS you collected form all the customers (ITBIS B) and you make a report on ITBIS B - ITBIS A, then you either have positive or negative ITBIS balance. In some countries a negative balance means that the government actually PAYS you a return of VAT/ITBIS, though in most LatAm countries you only get "fiscal ITBIS credit" to us eto offset positive ITBIS balances in other months.

Then, it is also my understanding there are two types of invoices, one with "valor fiscal" and one without, the one with valor fiscal you can reclaim ITBIS through the calculation used above.

But, maybe I am not correct in my assumptions ....

That's it in a nutshell.
 

aarhus

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I work with real estate and according to my understanding and from what I have Been told at the DGII we have to collect commisions from clients with an NFC with ITBIS. We do this but it is very frustrating because we keep seeing other companies in real estate that dont do this. And they seem to get away with and are not in any way worried. Is there some exemption for real estate companies that I dont know of??? Maybe somebody on this forum knows about this.
 

Robert

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I work with real estate and according to my understanding and from what I have Been told at the DGII we have to collect commisions from clients with an NFC with ITBIS. We do this but it is very frustrating because we keep seeing other companies in real estate that dont do this. And they seem to get away with and are not in any way worried. Is there some exemption for real estate companies that I dont know of??? Maybe somebody on this forum knows about this.

Real estate companies are not exempt. They are either avoiding paying taxes or doing it offshore. This is common when the seller and buyer both live outside of the DR.
 

MikeFisher

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Are you sure about this? It was my understanding from how VAT/IVA works around the world, that you sum up the ITBIS you paid to other merchants (ITBIS A) and the ITBIS you collected form all the customers (ITBIS B) and you make a report on ITBIS B - ITBIS A, then you either have positive or negative ITBIS balance. In some countries a negative balance means that the government actually PAYS you a return of VAT/ITBIS, though in most LatAm countries you only get "fiscal ITBIS credit" to us eto offset positive ITBIS balances in other months.

Then, it is also my understanding there are two types of invoices, one with "valor fiscal" and one without, the one with valor fiscal you can reclaim ITBIS through the calculation used above.

But, maybe I am not correct in my assumptions ....

right Rubio,
and here in the country the latin model is used, you get overpaid ITBIS credited on your RNC, like a bank account with rentas internas, just that this "bank" doesn't pay you interests as far as i know.
what i know for sure due to own actual experience is that if you underpay(get a Tap open with 'em) they collect you 5.73% of intereses in their favor. i had beginning with May 2008 such a debit with them without i realized that til now for the closure of the year 2008 i saw that. can be a p.i.t.a.. for that reason i fired my lazy secretary and run all my communications with my accountant Lad(in st dgo) myself by e-mail and with the scanner to send her all bills and documented incomes right away when they occur, so hopefully the next year's closure will not bring such kind of surprises again to me.

I work with real estate and according to my understanding and from what I have Been told at the DGII we have to collect commisions from clients with an NFC with ITBIS. We do this but it is very frustrating because we keep seeing other companies in real estate that dont do this. And they seem to get away with and are not in any way worried. Is there some exemption for real estate companies that I dont know of??? Maybe somebody on this forum knows about this.
in case of the properties values the taxes will be paid automatically with the transfer of the title, such is for a property on dominican soil done here in the DR and of course has to be paid here in the DR, doesn't matter what nationality the real estate prior owner, new owner or seller has.
if you have competitors who do not run their business by the rule/law, what often means they can offer their services for better rates b/c they have less costs, just report them. a healthy competition is good for any market, but pirate competitors are the poison for any market, i know that from my own lil business working on the water, i stop illegally operating pirate competitors boats nearly on monthly bases, including the often illegally over here seasonary operating american sportfishing boats. only same rules for all in the same business guarantee a healthy and positive competition.
don't be shy, you have to protect your business against gangsters.

Real estate companies are not exempt. They are either avoiding paying taxes or doing it offshore. This is common when the seller and buyer both live outside of the DR.

right Robert,
real estate companies are no exception, they have to pay taxes on their income.
but in case of sales comissions, like i.e. the typical real estate seller who is not the owner of the property, just a pure sales person like so many/most here on the beaches walking "big real estate guys" are, here i am not sure, b/c/ they could get their comission paid from a foreign account to a foreign account, so the local DGII would not have their hands on such money if excluded from the rate paid for the property here.
the real estate business leaves still a lot of dark zones, like many kind of businesses do.
Mike
 

aarhus

Long live King Frederik X
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I didnt really think Real Estate commisions where exempt. We include ITBIS in our listing contracts and it can be a real hazzle sometimes convincing the owners that there is also ITBIS on commisions. At the DGII I asked what they are doing about. They told me to give them examples of Real Estate companies that dont pay ITBIS. I will not waste my time doing that. But it does make a big difference in relation to the client. 16% is a lot to add.
 

MikeFisher

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Feb 28, 2006
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that's exactly my point,
you do not "waste time" for such so you have no reason to 'cry' out that there are competitors of yours who can sell the same product for a better rate b/c they do it the pirate way and nobody "waste's his/her time" to do a shi$$ about it.
i am not in the real estate business, but i do take my time to take care about my kinda business.
it's not always easy,
it is not always comfo,
but heck, in 14 years on the Isle i got a good amount of thick skin, ha ha.
if you are one of the 80+% shortterm "real estate brookers" who plan to make some quick bucks in a few months/maybe a year then you have good chances to get away with the pirates mob.
if you plan to stay on the Isle and run such kind of business in the future (the fact that you wrote you do the billing right let's me guess that you are not a newbie here) i would advice to do it the right way, the laws in case of taxes/anti money laundering and such stuff get every couple months enforced more and more.
specially now, tomorrow is the last day to present to DGII the final and complete accounts for the 2008 business year, so during the next months we will see again and in bigger numbers than the prior year the ones who cry out loud b/c they have from one day to an other some bills with the IRS open which many of them are not able to pay.
the gubmin waits the deadline for presenting business papers from the prior year and then they start to work on the ones which look suspicious to them or got blamed for doing it the wrong way.
and that kind of way of tax collecting is for the dominican gubmin a relatively new toy to play, but watching what they bring up new on it every once in a while i guess they have some good teachers, so for the closing of the business year 2009 (which has it's deadline march 31st 2010) there may be the first year with business owners getting really charged for their fraudulent behaviors.
and don't forget,
tax frauds can be investigated and charged by the gubmin up to 10 years back.
i am here 14 years now,
and i wanna enjoy an other 14 years at least as a free fisherman who can pay for his sunday afternoon beer on the beach.
so i take my time where i see a sense to do so
Mike
 
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