What does SAT's Tax Criterion 1-2026 say about VAT and duties on courier imports?

Institutional Tax Criterion No. 1-2026 of the tax authority (SAT), dated 27 March 2026, establishes that in courier imports the consignee is the owner and the party economically liable: the courier may not claim as its own input credit the VAT paid on third-party goods (it records this as a receivable from the client),… the import duties (DAI) paid on behalf of third parties are not a deductible cost or expense for the courier, and the charge to the client goes in the 'third-party account complement' field of the electronic invoice. The source is a firm's analysis (NDA Global); the text of the criterion is still to be downloaded from the SAT portal.