Peru Tax Authority Clarifies Digital Services Definition Under Ruling 046-2025

In the last days of April, the Peruvian Tax Authority clarified what services qualify as digital services. The clarification was provided through Ruling 046-2025, which amends imposed rules and repeals previously published Ruling 039-2024. The changes to the laws and regulations were made based on the decision made by the Peruvian Supreme Court in February this year.

Impact of the Amendments

When introducing the rules regarding digital services, legislators stated that digital services are those supplied through the Internet, platforms, or similar technologies and are provided automatically, with no human input.

Additionally, the legislators published a non-exhaustive list of services that may fall under the term digital services, including software maintenance, technical support on a network, data warehousing, application hosting, application service provision, website hosting, online consulting, banner ads, and many more.

In June 2024, the Peruvian Tax Authority released Ruling 039-2024, which automatically classifies services listed on the non-exhaustive list as digital services regardless of whether they meet the set key requirements. Consequently, the Peruvian Supreme Court concluded that, to be considered digital, services must be supplied automatically through the internet and not be viable in the absence of the internet.

Following this conclusion, the Peruvian Tax Authority released Ruling 046-2025, which underlines that only services that are essentially automatic, meaning they do not require any human intervention, delivered via online access, and are not viable in the absence of the internet, will be considered digital services.

In contrast, services that require human input, even when delivered electronically, through the Internet, via e-mail, or similarly, cannot qualify as digital services.

Conclusion

Taxable persons supplying digital services to Peruvian residents and businesses should consider the changed rules regarding the definition of digital services and which ones can be regarded as digital. 

Moreover, following the latest ruling by the Tax Authority, a previously non-exhaustive list of services that might be considered digital now serves as a descriptive list, which was its original purpose until the Ruling 039-2024 was published.

Source: EY