Brazil is well established in requiring electronic invoice submissions to the tax authorities through several official formats including:
- Nota Fiscal Eletrônica (NF-e) for goods;
- Nota Fiscal de Serviós Eletrônica (NFS-e) for services; and
- Conheçimento de Trasporte Eletrônico (CT-e), an e-waybill for freight services.
Originally, these were pre-printed on locked fiscal printers, and only available at special outlets which ensured they were completed to the requirements of the Ministry of Finance, and logged with a unique number for the tax authorities to reference. But this has now largely been replaced with their online versions.
To issue an NF-e electronic invoice, businesses must use an issuer with a Autorizacao de Impressao de Documentos Fiscais, AIDF. In addition, they must obtain e-CNPJ digital certificate. NF-e invoices can then be created online. Aside from the usual invoice details, this includes the tax calculation.
Tax payers must first report an NF-e invoice to the tax authorities, the SEFAZ (Secretaria de Estado de Fazenda). Once authorised, this is given a unique code, for inclusion on the invoice. This must be posted to the General Ledger. Only then may goods be shipped to the customer. A PDF paper version of the approved invoice, known as the DANF-e, must be printed and sent to the customer with the shipment.
The customer must confirm the NF-e sign-off with SEFAZ, and return a goods confirmation to match the sales invoice.
