Colombia Tightens Security Controls for Electronic Invoice Search Tool
Colombia’s National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) has introduced a new identity-verification requirement for the document search function within its Electronic Invoicing System (Sistema de Facturación Electrónica, SFE). The measure, in force since July 28, 2026, is designed to safeguard taxpayer information stored in the system.
DIAN’s electronic invoicing framework operates under a pre-validation model: all electronic tax documents, including sales invoices, payroll support documents, and equivalent documents, must be submitted to and approved by DIAN before issuers can deliver them to recipients. The “Buscar documento” (Search document) tool, accessible through the Electronic Invoicing System, allows users to look up these validated documents.
What Changes for Users
Under the updated mechanism, users searching for a document must now enter the identification number of either the invoice’s issuer or its receiver. Downloading the located document requires entering the same identification number a second time.
DIAN has also begun actively blocking automated traffic on the platform. Users attempting to access the search tool through bots, automated processes, or artificial intelligence agents may see the message “Solicitud bloqueada por controles de seguridad” (Request blocked by security controls). According to DIAN, this control is triggered when the system detects activity that could overload the look-up service or compromise information security.
Importantly, this block is not a suspension of access. Once triggered, the system presents a human-verification check; once completed, normal navigation can resume.
Purpose of the Update
DIAN has described the change as part of its broader technical controls to ensure the platform continues to function properly and to protect the security of the information it holds. The authority has asked users and taxpayers to take the new requirements into account when using the search tool, which remains available through the Buscar documento option of the Electronic Invoicing System.
This update forms part of DIAN’s ongoing management of the SFE, the system introduced in 2015 that underpins Colombia’s digital tax transformation and covers documents such as the electronic sales invoice, the electronic payroll support document, and the registration of electronic invoices as securities through the RADIAN platform.
There’s more you should know about global e-invoicing changes – learn more about the new and upcoming regulations.
