The goods and services catalog is a numbering system from Costa Rica's Ministry of Finance and Central Bank (BCCR), used on electronic invoices and tax-return forms in the ATV system. It identifies and catalogs each service within the tax registry using the same classification as the BCCR.
What is the CABYS code?
All taxpayers must use the CABYS code (Catalog of Goods and Services) on electronic invoices starting December 1, 2020.
CABYS groups goods and services into an ordered catalog of categories and assigns each one a number and the value-added tax rate in force when the electronic invoice is issued.
A CABYS code is a unique code of up to 13 digits that identifies the goods and services in the catalog.
The catalog has 10 broad categories that expand into more than 20,000 individual products. The first five categories, except clothing, medicines and health interventions, follow the United Nations Central Product Classification (CPC), also used by international organizations such as Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
CABYS objectives
• Provide a catalog for classifying goods and services sold in Costa Rica.
• Make calculations and analysis for national statistics easier.
• Support tax oversight and increase tax collection.
Structure of the CABYS catalog
| 0. Agriculture, forestry and fishing products | 1,420 |
| 1. Minerals; electricity, gas and water | 121 |
| 2. Food products, beverages and tobacco; textiles, clothing and leather products | 1,929 |
| 3. Transportable goods, excluding metal products, machinery and equipment, not elsewhere classified | 7,687 |
| 4. Metal products, machinery and equipment | 3,272 |
| 5. Construction and construction services | 89 |
| 6. Sales and distribution; accommodation; food and beverage services; transport; electricity, gas and water distribution | 267 |
| 7. Financial and related services; real estate services; financial leasing | 187 |
| 8. Business and production services | 493 |
| 9. Community, social and personal services | 4,826 |
How will CABYS help?
- Identify goods and services with different tax rates.
- Make inventory control easier.
- Provide a basis for developing tools for taxpayers.
How does CABYS benefit the country?
- Improve consistency in the information reported by taxpayers.
- Group goods and services into categories that support traceability.
- Provide greater oversight of commercial transactions.
Benefits for combating tax fraud
• Encourage voluntary compliance through access to automated tools.
• Generate supporting records.
• Prefill tax returns.
• Generate alerts that help taxpayers fulfill their obligations.
• Increase tax collection by combating tax fraud.
• Improve relevant information, including registered economic activity, use of tax benefits, address, transaction volume and production chains.
Benefits for macroeconomic statistics
• Make the calculation of economic activity indicators (IMAE) and price indices easier and more timely.
• Provide accurate information for national accounts.
• Support and speed up tax-evasion indicators, sector studies and other calculations.
