Bolivia: Changes to the regulations for the refund of export taxes

Supreme decree No. 5145 (Spanish) incorporates a new modality of export tax refund, in order to facilitate the processing of tax refund requests (solicitudes de devolución impositiva—SDI).

Key aspects include:

• The deadline for the issuance of export and import refund certificates will be 15 calendar days provided that the exporter, when submitting the tax refund request, supports that 100% of the foreign currency corresponding to the value of the export has been deposited in their account in a financial institution regulated by the financial regulatory authority (ASFI). In addition, the exporter will undertake to provide a surety insurance policy on first demand for the full amount of value added tax (VAT) and consumption tax (ICE), with a minimum validity of 365 calendar days, which may be extended or renewed at the request of the national tax service (servicio de impuestos nacionales—SIN).
• In the event that the exporter does not return the difference between the value of the export and import refund certificate issued and the amount of the tax credit supported, within three days following the notification of the Administrative Resolution, the execution of the guarantee on first demand will be activated in its entirety, or the surety insurance policy will be executed on first demand for the amount unduly returned.
• If the exporter has outstanding tax debts with the Treasury, the export and import refund certificate will be issued and withheld for a value equal to the amount owed, using the modality of prior inspection by the SIN. In the event that enforceable tax debits are discovered after the issuance of the export and import refund certificate, the tax administration will apply the prior verification modality.
• The term of payment facilities is reduced from 60 to 30 monthly installments.

Read an April 2024 report (Spanish) prepared by the KPMG member firm in Bolivia