Most businesses have one tax treatment for what they sell. Hotels have several, and which one applies depends on who the guest is, not on the room. That's what makes hotel invoicing error-prone, and under online SFE invoicing every mistake is recorded at the SIN the moment you issue it.
1. Foreign tourists: IVA at zero
Under Article 30 of Ley N° 292 (Ley General de Turismo "Bolivia te espera"), lodging provided by hotel establishments to foreign tourists without domicile or residence in Bolivia is treated as an export of services for IVA purposes. In practice, that lodging is invoiced at a zero IVA rate instead of 13%.
These operations use the factura turística, which carries its own legend and doesn't generate crédito fiscal for the buyer. In your sales records, the amount goes under exports and exempt operations, so it generates no débito fiscal.
2. Bolivian and resident guests: standard IVA
Domestic tourists and foreign residents are invoiced normally, with 13% IVA included in the price. Most small hotels get the tax right. The usual mistake is the recipient data.
3. Corporate guests: the NIT matters
A business traveller's company wants to use your invoice for crédito fiscal. That only works if the invoice carries the company's NIT and legal name, not the traveller's name. Ask for billing details at booking or check-in, not at checkout when the guest is in a hurry. An invoice issued to the wrong party has to be annulled and reissued, which is its own process.
4. The folio: lodging plus everything else
A stay rarely ends up as lodging alone: breakfast, restaurant, bar, minibar, laundry, airport transfer. The zero rate is framed around the lodging service to foreign tourists. How extras on a foreign guest's folio should be treated is worth confirming with your accountant. Many hotels invoice them separately with standard IVA to stay on the safe side. What matters is that your system can split a folio into correctly taxed lines rather than applying one rate to the total.
5. Booking platforms and their commissions
If you sell through international online travel agencies, you pay commissions to a company abroad. Payments for services from beneficiaries abroad are generally subject to IUE for foreign beneficiaries (IUE-BE), withheld at 12.5% of the amount paid or credited. Many small hotels never withhold, because the platform simply deducts its commission from the payout. Paying net doesn't remove the obligation. This one is worth reviewing with your accountant if OTAs are a meaningful channel.
6. Prices in dollars, invoices in bolivianos
Rates are often quoted in USD, but the invoice amount for tax purposes must be in bolivianos at the applicable exchange rate. Make it a rule to record the exchange rate you used on the invoice or folio, so the invoice amount and the payment received can be reconciled later.
Hotel invoicing checklist
This article is general information for Bolivian businesses, not tax or legal advice. Rules and rates change; confirm how they apply to your business with your accountant or the SIN before acting.
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