Argentina: an invoice without a CAE has no tax value
In Argentina, per the sources read, an electronic invoice is authorised by the tax authority, ARCA (formerly AFIP), which returns a CAE (código de autorización electrónico). Without one the invoice cannot support IVA credit or a deductible expense. Below: how it works as vendor guides report it, where the sources are thin, and a local check of a CUIT’s check digit.
How it works (as vendor guides and the authority report it)
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Identify | The issuer has a CUIT (11 digits: a two-digit type, an eight-digit number and a check digit) and must be active in ARCA’s register; an inactive CUIT blocks authorisation of new electronic invoices, per one vendor guide. |
| Request a CAE | The issuer’s system sends the invoice data to ARCA through its web service. ARCA returns a CAE for that invoice. |
| Print or send | The invoice carries the CAE. One vendor says a QR code with date, amount and issuer’s CUIT has been compulsory since 2020. |
| Verify | ARCA offers a public service to check a received invoice (“Constatación de Comprobantes”): it asks for the issuer’s CUIT, the type and number of the invoice, the amount, and the CAE with its date. |
Where it is unsettled: the resolutions that make e-invoicing mandatory by taxpayer category and the dates, which I did not read; the QR requirement (vendor claim only); and the effect of the name change from AFIP to ARCA on older guides. Sources are vendor guides and trade articles read through search excerpts, not ARCA’s general resolutions. No penalty is stated because none was read. A summary, not tax advice.
Check a CUIT
Tests the shape (11 digits; spaces, dots and hyphens are ignored), the check digit and the prefix (20, 23, 24, 27 for people; 30, 33, 34 for companies). It does not look anything up, so it cannot say whether the CUIT is registered, active, or belongs to the name on the invoice.
The sample is the tax authority’s own CUIT. The rule (the first ten digits weighted 5,4,3,2,7,6,5,4,3,2; 11 minus the remainder mod 11, with 11 read as 0; a result of 10 has no digit) reproduces it and a second CUIT I know (30-70308853-4); it was not read from ARCA’s specification.
What this checker does and does not cover
The main checker reads UBL, CII and Factur-X and applies EN 16931 and Peppol rules. It does not call ARCA’s web service, cannot obtain or verify a CAE, and has no ARCA catalogues or tax-type codes. Treat the CUIT test here as a typo catch only.
Test a file before you send it
For a European or Peppol invoice, open the checker, drop your XML and read the findings, each with a rule ID and a fix (the rule reference). No account, nothing uploaded. No invoice yet? The e-invoice creator turns a form into UBL or CII XML and checks it. Other countries: all side by side Mexico Brazil Chile Colombia Peru.
Common questions
What is a CAE?
The código de autorización electrónico: the code ARCA assigns to an electronic invoice when the issuer requests authorisation. Without a CAE, vendor guides say the invoice has no tax validity, so it cannot support an IVA credit or a deductible expense. This is a summary from vendor guides, not advice; confirm with ARCA or your accountant.
How do I check an invoice I received?
ARCA has a public check, “Constatación de Comprobantes”. You enter the issuer’s CUIT, the type and number of the invoice, the amount, and the CAE with its date. This page does not do that check; it only tests a CUIT’s check digit.
What is a valid CUIT?
Eleven digits whose last digit follows from the first ten by a mod 11 rule. A matching digit does not mean the CUIT is registered or active; ARCA’s public register answers that. The test on this page catches typos only.
Can this checker validate an Argentine invoice?
No. It does not read ARCA’s formats and cannot obtain or verify a CAE. It does test a CUIT’s shape and check digit on this page, and a clean result is not an authorisation by ARCA.
Open the E-invoice Preflight checker to validate your own invoice file.
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