Glossary
CFDI
The Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet, Mexico's electronic invoice. An XML issued by whoever sells, collects or withholds, which SAT validates and seals before it exists.
When tax law requires a receipt for a sale, a payment or a withholding, that receipt is a CFDI: a digital document issued electronically. Whoever buys, receives a service, pays in installments or is withheld from must ask for theirs.
How a CFDI comes to be
- The issuer builds it and signs it with their digital seal (their CSD).
- Before handing it over, it is sent to be validated against the Tax Code’s requirements, assigned a folio and given SAT’s digital seal.
- Only then is it a valid receipt the recipient can use.
What it must contain
Among the requirements of CFF article 29-A: the issuer’s RFC, name and tax regime; the folio and the digital seals of SAT and the issuer; and the place and date of issue. The current standard is CFDI 4.0 (Annex 20).
Why check them
A CFDI can stop working for you after you receive it: if the issuer cancels it, if the issuer shows up on the 69-B list, if its regime doesn’t match your tax certificate and it has to be reissued, or if it is an installment invoice without its REP.
Related terms
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- Tax changes for 2027: what actually changes for accountants and SMBsRESICO up to 5 million, Buzón Tributario fines, regularization and new limits on deductions. A clear summary of the 2027 Economic Package.
- Payment complement (REP): when to issue it and what happens if it's missingWhen the electronic payment receipt is issued, the deadline to stamp it, why without a REP the VAT on PPD invoices cannot be credited and how to spot the missing ones.
- DIOT: how to file it and the mistakes that can get you finedWhat the DIOT is, who files it, what information it carries per supplier, the most common mistakes and the fine for filing it wrong or late.
Not tax advice: review your case with your accountant.
Sources
- Federal Tax Code (CFF), art. 29 (duty to issue CFDI and their validation)
- Federal Tax Code (CFF), art. 29-A (what a CFDI must contain)
- RMF Annex 20: the CFDI 4.0 standard
Clauhub checks it in your invoices.
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