Increasingly digital tax audits: How to prepare for SUNAT inductive letters and electronic requests

Electronic communications allow Peru’s National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration (SUNAT) to detect and manage inconsistencies more quickly. For companies, responding effectively depends less on improvising a defense and more on having consistent accounting and documentary support in place before receiving the communication.

The review may begin in the electronic mailbox

SUNAT has an Electronic Inductive Management system (GIE), designed to facilitate the handling of inductive actions. Through the electronic mailbox, a taxpayer may receive an inductive letter or a request for information when the tax authority detects possible inconsistencies or omissions.

The letter invites the taxpayer to regularize or substantiate the reported situation. The request may also require documentation or information within a specific deadline. In the cases indicated by SUNAT, supporting documentation may be submitted through the GIE system itself.

The problem does not begin when the letter arrives

An inconsistency may arise from differences between tax returns, invoices, electronic records, or information reported by third parties. If the company waits until it receives the communication to reconstruct the supporting evidence, the available time may be limited.

For that reason, tax prevention is increasingly linked to the quality of the data and documents supporting business operations. Invoices, contracts, purchase orders, deliverables, payment records, and accounting entries should all tell the same story.

Responding requires review before accepting the observation

An inductive action should not be treated as a routine administrative message without analysis. The company needs to identify exactly which period and transaction are being questioned, compare the relevant information, and determine whether it should regularize the situation or support its position.

When supporting evidence exists, it should be coherent and sufficient. When the inconsistency is real, assessing its timely regularization can prevent the issue from escalating further.

Digitalization increases the importance of internal order

The greater the tax authority’s ability to cross-check information, the more important it becomes for a company to explain its operations with organized evidence. This is not only an accounting matter. Contracts, procurement, sales, logistics, and treasury also generate documents that may be required during a review.

Digital tax audits do not eliminate legal tax analysis; they make it more dependent on traceability. A well-prepared company is not one that never receives a communication, but one that can understand it and respond with consistent information.