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4.3 Drawback, credit balance and other benefits

When you export you can recover the IGV on your purchases and, if you import inputs, claim drawback: 3% of FOB. Each benefit has conditions and deadlines; learn them before you set your margin.

Module 4: Costs, price and benefits · Reviewed on 20/10/2026 · Español

Goal: Calculate drawback (3% of FOB with a cap) and the exporter's credit balance, and check the conditions for receiving each benefit.

Exporting opens three ways to recover money. You recover the IGV you paid on your purchases. If you use imported inputs, you can claim part of the duties you paid on them, the drawback. And, depending on the trade agreement, your customer may pay less tariff at the destination. None of them arrives on its own: each requires conditions and a procedure.

The exporter's credit balance arises because your sales abroad do not pay IGV, but your purchases do. What is left after subtracting the IGV on your local sales is the credit balance eligible for the benefit (SFMB): you can offset it or ask SUNAT to refund it. It has a cap: the IGV rate plus the IPM (Municipal Promotion Tax) applied to what was shipped in the period, which SUNAT illustrates with 18%. The excess carries over to the next month.

The SFMB request is made with the PDB Exportadores program, which SUNAT requires of exporters; without it the request is denied. The refund is paid by deposit into an account, non-negotiable check or Negotiable Credit Notes. For exporters of goods, SUNAT indicates deadlines of 2, 15 or 30 days depending on the case. While it arrives, that money is tied up: include it in your cash flow.

Drawback (simplified refund of customs duties) returns to the producer-exporter company part of the duties it paid when importing inputs. In the simplified version you do not have to prove input by input: SUNAT refunds you 3% of the FOB value, with a cap of 50% of the production cost. Customs duties are the taxes paid on import; they are studied in depth in the course on Customs Taxes, Trade Agreements and Origin.

To receive drawback you must meet four more conditions. The CIF value of the imported inputs cannot exceed 50% of the FOB value of the exported product. Those inputs must have been imported within the 36 months before the export. The subheading cannot be on the list of exclusions approved by the MEF. And the request must be numbered no later than 180 business days after the shipment date. This is the version in force in 2026.

There are more advantages. Trade agreements can give a lower or zero tariff in the destination country if your product meets the rule of origin; that topic is covered in the course on Customs Taxes, Trade Agreements and Origin. Processing regimes, such as temporary admission for inward processing and replenishment of goods with tariff exemption, avoid or recover duties on imported inputs (topic 3-3). Before combining them for the same input, consult your customs agent.

Key ideas

Exports do not pay IGV, but your purchases do: the difference is recovered as the exporter's credit balance (SFMB).
The SFMB has a cap: the IGV rate plus IPM on what was shipped in the period, which SUNAT illustrates with 18%. The excess carries over to the next month.
Drawback refunds 3% of the FOB value to the producer-exporter company, with a cap of 50% of the production cost.
For drawback, the CIF of imported inputs cannot exceed 50% of FOB, they must have been imported in the previous 36 months and the subheading cannot be excluded.
The drawback request is numbered within 180 business days of shipment: do not leave it for later.
Calculate your price without counting drawback and treat it as extra margin: if you fail a condition, you do not receive it.
The minimum claim is US$ 500 (smaller amounts are accumulated), and there is a cap of US$ 20 million of exports per tariff subheading and per unrelated beneficiary.

Benefit	What you recover	How it is calculated	Where it is handled
Credit balance (SFMB)	IGV and IPM paid on your purchases	IGV on purchases minus IGV on local sales, with a cap on what was shipped in the period	SUNAT, with the PDB Exportadores
Drawback	Part of the customs duties on imported inputs	3% of the FOB value, with a cap of 50% of the production cost	SUNAT, with the refund request after shipment
Trade agreement	Lower or zero tariff at the destination	According to the agreement and your product's origin	Customs of the destination country, with your proof of origin

Worked example

Pima Andina calculates how much it recovers on its order of polo shirts

Back to Pima Andina S.A.C.: it shipped 12,000 polo shirts with an FOB value of US$ 76,800 and its production cost was S/ 202,800. It uses S/ 3.50 per dollar (assumption). It imported labels, thread, buttons and bags with a CIF value of US$ 4,800 in 2026.
Check the drawback conditions. It is a producer-exporter company. The CIF of imported inputs weighs 4,800 ÷ 76,800 = 6.25% of FOB, below the limit of 50% (US$ 38,400). It imported the inputs within the previous 36 months. Suppose its subheading is not on the list of exclusions.
Calculate the drawback: 3% × 76,800 = US$ 2,304. Check the cap: production cost 202,800 ÷ 3.50 = US$ 57,942.86; its 50% is US$ 28,971.43. Since 2,304 is lower, it receives US$ 2,304, about S/ 8,064 at S/ 3.50.
Calculate the credit balance. During the month it paid IGV on local purchases and services: S/ 135,000 × 18% = S/ 24,300. It had no local sales, so there is no IGV to deduct. Its exporter's credit balance is S/ 24,300.
Check the SFMB cap: exports shipped in the month 76,800 × 3.50 = S/ 268,800; 18% of that amount is S/ 48,384. Since 24,300 is lower, it can request S/ 24,300 with the PDB Exportadores.
Look at the effect on its accounts. Its profit from topic 4-2 was S/ 54,360 (20.2% of FOB). With drawback it rises to 54,360 + 8,064 = S/ 62,424, that is 23.2%. The S/ 24,300 of IGV is not profit: it is cash it recovers and that, while it waits, costs it interest.
Calendar: the drawback request must be numbered no later than 180 business days after shipment. If SUNAT selects it for document review, it has 2 business days from numbering to confirm whether it attaches additional documents; otherwise it is cancelled.

Result: Pima Andina recovers US$ 2,304 of drawback (about S/ 8,064) and S/ 24,300 of IGV. Drawback raises its margin from 20.2% to 23.2%; IGV only returns cash. That is why it set the price without counting drawback.

Real cases

SUNAT changes the drawback procedure, effective February 2026

26/12/2025

On 26/12/2025, SUNAT published Resolution No. 000381-2025/SUNAT, which amends the procedure DESPA-PG.07 “Simplified refund of customs duties”. The amendment takes effect on 02/02/2026. It changes when documents are issued, the registration and payment of requests and the correction of errors, which becomes electronic only. The refund remains 3% of FOB, with a cap of 50% of the production cost, and Banco de la Nación pays within 5 business days after SUNAT's authorization.

Check the current version of the procedure before you submit your request: formalities and deadlines change.

Source: SUNAT – Resolución 000381-2025/SUNAT: modificación del procedimiento DESPA-PG.07

The procedure sets five conditions to receive drawback

2026

In SUNAT's procedure DESPA-PG.07, the beneficiary is the producer-exporter company. The CIF value of imported inputs cannot exceed 50% of the FOB value of the exported good, and those inputs must have been imported within the 36 months before the definitive export. The product cannot be on the list of excluded subheadings approved by the MEF. The request must be numbered within a maximum of 180 business days from the shipment date.

Before exporting, review the five points with your import DAMs at hand; if one fails, there is no drawback.

Source: SUNAT – Procedimiento DESPA-PG.07 Restitución simplificada de derechos arancelarios

SUNAT explains how to recover IGV on exports

2026

On its portal for entrepreneurs, SUNAT explains that the credit balance eligible for the benefit is what remains of the exporter's credit balance after deducting the gross IGV tax. The limit is the IGV rate plus IPM on the exports shipped in the period, which the guide illustrates with 18%, and the excess carries over to the next month. Exporters must use the PDB Exportadores, and the refund is made by deposit into an account, non-negotiable check or Negotiable Credit Notes.

Keep a monthly record of what was shipped: how much IGV you can recover depends on it.

Source: SUNAT – Devolución del saldo a favor materia de beneficio (SFMB)

Common mistakes

Setting the price counting on drawback as if it were certain. Calculate the price without it and treat drawback as extra margin.
Letting the 180-business-day deadline from shipment expire. Submit the request as soon as you have the documents.
Counting the IGV credit balance as profit. It is cash you recover, not profit, and it takes time to arrive.
Using inputs imported more than 36 months ago or going over 50% of FOB without checking beforehand. Build a sheet that compares the CIF of inputs with the FOB of each shipment.
Forgetting the document review. If your request goes to that review, you have 2 business days from numbering to confirm whether you attach additional documents; otherwise it is cancelled.

Practise with the calculators, the COMEX Simulator and the review questions on the main page.

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