Being served with a requerimiento de fiscalización (a formal document request issued in a tax audit) triggers two equally costly reactions: freezing until the deadline is about to expire, or responding immediately by handing over everything at hand. Neither one helps. What follows is the order in which the first few days should be worked.
1. Read the requerimiento before looking for a single document
A requerimiento is not a generic request for information. It defines with precision the scope of what the tax authority may review, and that definition also limits what it may demand afterward. Before moving a single file, four data points should be identified:
- What type of procedure it is. A partial audit reviews part of one element of the tax obligation and must say so expressly; a definitive audit covers the obligation in full. The statutory time limits for the procedure differ in each case.
- Which taxes and which periods it covers. Anything falling outside that scope is not part of this requerimiento.
- What exactly is being requested. The requerimiento should be broken down point by point, in a list, marking which items can be met with what already exists and which require reconstructing information.
- What the due date and time are. This is the data point that organizes everything else.
2. Decide on the extension within the first 24 hours
Here lies the most frequent mistake. The extension exists, it is regulated, and it is lost by not requesting it in time. Article 7 of the Reglamento del Procedimiento de Fiscalización (the audit procedure regulations, Decreto Supremo 085-2007-EF) distinguishes two situations:
- If the term granted is more than three business days, the request must be filed no less than three business days before the due date.
- If the term granted is three business days or less, the request may be filed up to the business day following service of the requerimiento.
Once the request has been filed, if SUNAT does not serve its response by the day before the original due date, the following are deemed automatically granted: two business days when that term or less was requested, or when no term was stated; the term requested when between three and five business days were requested; and five business days when more than five were requested.
The practical consequence is simple: the decision on whether to request an extension cannot be made the day before the deadline, because by then it is usually too late. It is made on the very day the notice arrives.
3. Gather documentation on a standard of substantiation, not volume
Handing over boxes of documents is not a defense. What the tax authority assesses is whether each transaction under review is supported in a way that proves it actually took place, on the terms in which it was declared.
For each relevant transaction, it is worth verifying that, in addition to the payment voucher, there is:
- Support for the flow of funds: a banked means of payment, a bank statement, and its traceability to the amount and the date of the transaction.
- Support for the actual performance: contract, purchase order, dispatch note, progress reports, coordination emails, entry logs, acceptance certificates.
- Consistency with the rest of the records: that what was declared matches the electronic books, the purchase register and the financial statements for the year.
A voucher with nothing behind it is the scenario in which input VAT credit and the deduction are most frequently lost.
4. Do not hand over more than what was requested, nor less
Handing over documentation that was not requested voluntarily widens the review surface and tends to open fronts that were not in the original scope. Handing over too little, on the other hand, exposes the taxpayer to the infringement of failing to produce the books, registers or other documents requested, set out in paragraph 1 of article 177 of the Código Tributario (the Tax Code).
The middle ground is to respond with an orderly brief that follows the numbering of the requerimiento, states for each item what is attached and on which page numbers, and expressly records what is not attached and why.
5. Anticipate the closing of the requerimiento
Before concluding the procedure, the tax authority communicates its conclusions and findings and grants a term, which may not be less than three business days, to submit written rebuttals (article 75 of the Código Tributario). That is the last opportunity to correct the file before the findings turn into an assessment resolution and penalties.
Neglecting that stage, or responding to it without new supporting evidence, shifts the entire discussion to the contentious procedure: tax claim, appeal before the Tribunal Fiscal (the administrative tax court) and, eventually, judicial review proceedings. The cost and the time multiply.
When it is worth calling an advisor
Not always. When the requerimiento is limited to producing the books for a short period and the accounting is in order, the company can handle it on its own. Specialized support should be sought when any of these circumstances is present:
- The audit is definitive or covers several fiscal years.
- There are transactions with suppliers whose substantiation may be challenged.
- There are transactions with related parties or with non domiciled entities.
- The amount in dispute compromises the company's cash flow.
- The deadline has already expired or is about to, and no extension was requested.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice for a specific case. Every file requires a particular analysis of its facts and its documentation.
This is a translation for informational purposes. The Spanish version of this article is the only authoritative one; in case of any discrepancy, the Spanish text prevails.