The purpose of the certificates of residence issued by a State with which Peru has entered into a DTA is to certify the status of resident in that State in order to be able to make use of the benefits contemplated in the DTA.
Responsible for granting DTA benefits.
The income tax withholding agent for income paid or credited to individuals residing in a State with which Peru has entered into a DTA or in general, for any tax to which the DTA is applicable, must support granting benefits provided for in the DTA only with the Certificate of Residence issued by the individual residing in that State.
If the resident of the other State does not file the Certificate of Residence at the time of withholding, the withholding agent shall withhold the tax without considering the benefits considered in the DTA.
In this case, the resident of that other State may request before SUNAT the refund of the taxes unduly or excessively withheld, for which it must follow the procedure set forth in the sixth paragraph of Supreme Decree No. 090-2008-EF.
Legal basis: First, second and sixth paragraphs of article 2 of Supreme Decree No. 090-2008-EF.
Contents of the Certificate of Residence
The Certificate of Residence must state at least:
That the taxpayer is a resident of a State with which Peru has entered into a DTA,
That the taxpayer is subject to taxation in said State,
The period of time of the certification of residence.
Legal basis: Fourth paragraph of article 2 of Supreme Decree No. 090-2008-EF.
Period of validity of the Certificate of Residence
The Certificate of Residence is valid for a period of four (4) months from the date of issuance, unless the issuing State grants a shorter period of validity.
Legal basis: Fifth paragraph of article 2 of Supreme Decree No. 090-2008-EF.
States with online verification system
The third paragraph of article 2 of Supreme Decree No. 090-2008-EF, provides that when the competent entity for issuing the Certificate of Residence has an online verification system, the withholding agent (subparagraph c) of article 71 of the TUO (Single consolidated text) of the Income Tax Law) must verify its authenticity; and for such purpose SUNAT, through Superintendency Resolution, will indicate the States that have such online verification system.
To this end, Superintendency Resolution No. 230-2008-SUNAT states that the Chilean government has an online verification system for the Certificates of Residence it issues, so that the withholding agent can verify the authenticity of such certificates.
Certificates of Residence in Chile can be verified at “International Certificates for Internet” the website of the Chilean Internal Revenue Service (SII by its acronyms in Spanish).
Legal basis: Third paragraph of Article 2 of Supreme Decree No. 090-2008-EF and Superintendence Resolution No. 230-2008-SUNAT.