Countries › Peru › Guide › 5. FX and capital controls › Foreign currency in Peruvian contracts, books and taxes: dollar obligations, indexation, dollar accounting and exchange differences

Foreign currency in Peruvian contracts, books and taxes: dollar obligations, indexation, dollar accounting and exchange differences

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Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Contracts in Peru may be written and paid in dollars or any other currency unless a special law forbids it; if the contract is silent, the debtor may pay a dollar debt in soles at the selling rate of the day and place of maturity, so dollar only payment must be agreed expressly. Tax is a different matter: accounting books must be kept in soles and taxes are declared and paid in soles, except for foreign investors that contract with the State to keep their books in US dollars. Exchange differences on foreign currency balances are taxable gains or deductible losses in the year the rate moves.

USD figures use S/ 3.446 per US dollar, the banking system selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP for 26 October 2026 as shown in the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú statistics series PD04640PD. Amounts that the law sets in US dollars or soles are quoted as written. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Contracts denominated in foreign currency	Allowed unless a special law prohibits; payable in soles at the selling rate unless payment in foreign currency is agreed textCódigo Civil art. 1237, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Currency of tax accounting books	Soles; US dollars only for foreign investors that contract with the State under the supreme decree requirements textCódigo Tributario art. 87 num. 4, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Currency in which taxes are paid	Soles textCódigo Tributario art. 32, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Fine for keeping books outside soles without authorization (Table I)	0.2% of annual net income, min 10% UIT, max 8 UIT textCódigo Tributario art. 175 num. 6, Table I, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Obligations in foreign currency may be agreed unless prohibited by special laws. Unless otherwise agreed, a debt in foreign currency may be paid in soles at the selling exchange rate of the day and place where the obligation falls due; if there is no agreement on the currency of payment and the debtor pays late, the creditor may choose payment in soles at the selling rate of the due date or of the payment date. Before 1992 any agreement excluding payment in soles was void; the current wording allows the parties to require payment in the foreign currency itself.
Cost to do it: No cost; the protection is drafting a clause that requires payment in the agreed currency.
Example: A Lima office lease at US$10,000 a month with no currency of payment clause may be paid with S/ 34,460 at the selling rate of 26 October 2026; with an express clause the landlord can insist on dollars. / US$10,000 a month: payable in dollars only if the contract says so; otherwise the tenant may pay the sol equivalent at the day's selling rate.Código Civil (Decreto Legislativo Nº 295, in force 14 November 1984); art. 1237 replaced by Decreto Ley Nº 25878 (published 26 November 1992), Art. 1237, 1992-11-26 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. A debt agreed in soles cannot be demanded in another currency or in an amount different from the nominal sum agreed. Even so, the parties may agree that a sol debt be linked to automatic adjustment indices set by the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú, to other currencies or to goods, to keep its value constant; payment is then made in soles at the equivalent of the reference value on the due date, and if the debtor pays late the creditor may choose the reference value of the due date or of the payment date.
Cost to do it: No cost; an indexation clause has to be written into the contract.
Example: A supply contract priced at S/ 344,600 and linked to the dollar at S/ 3.446 keeps its value at US$100,000: if the sol falls to S/ 3.60, the buyer pays S/ 360,000. / A sol price indexed to the dollar works like a US$100,000 price while still being paid in soles.Código Civil (Decreto Legislativo Nº 295, promulgated 24 July 1984, in force 14 November 1984), Art. 1234 and art. 1235, 1984-07-24 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. Accounting books and other records required by tax rules must be kept in Spanish and in soles, except for taxpayers that receive or make foreign direct investment in foreign currency, meet the requirements set by supreme decree and contract with the State for this purpose, who may keep their accounting in US dollars. Even then, returns, tax payments and penalties are declared and paid in soles, credit balances from prior periods are taken as declared in soles, and SUNAT issues assessments, payment orders and fines in soles. Tax debts are paid in national currency by the means listed in the Tax Code; where stability agreements or laws allow a debt to be declared or paid in foreign currency, default interest is capped by reference to the SBS foreign currency lending rate (TAMEX) and refunds are made in that currency.
Cost to do it: Keeping dollar books requires an agreement with the State; otherwise the cost is dual reporting (dollar management accounts, sol tax books).
Example: A mining company without a dollar accounting agreement keeps its tax books in soles and pays S/ 1,000,000 of income tax in soles, even if its functional currency is the dollar. / The same company cannot pay its tax bill in US$290,192; it must pay S/ 1,000,000.Texto Único Ordenado del Código Tributario (Decreto Supremo Nº 133-2013-EF, published 22 June 2013), Art. 87 numeral 4, art. 32 and seventh final provision, 2013-06-22 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. Keeping books or records in a language other than Spanish or in a currency other than soles, except for taxpayers authorized to keep accounting in foreign currency, is an infraction. For general regime taxpayers (Table I) the fine is 0.2 percent of annual net income (IN), not less than 10 percent of a UIT nor more than 8 UIT.
Cost to do it: Fine between S/ 550 (10 percent of the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500) and S/ 44,000 (8 UIT), at 0.2 percent of annual net income.
Example: A company with S/ 10,000,000 of annual net income that keeps its books only in dollars without authorization faces a S/ 20,000 fine. / That fine is about US$5,804; the ceiling of S/ 44,000 is about US$12,768.Texto Único Ordenado del Código Tributario (Decreto Supremo Nº 133-2013-EF), Table I of infractions and penalties, Art. 175 numeral 6; Table I and note (13), 2013-06-22 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. Exchange differences arising from operations that are a habitual part of the taxed activity, and from credits obtained to finance them, are part of taxable income. Foreign currency operations are recorded at the exchange rate in force on the date of the operation; differences from converting foreign currency into soles, and from collections and payments of operations agreed in foreign currency, are gains or losses of the year in which they occur; differences from restating foreign currency asset and liability balances into soles are included in the period in which the rate fluctuates; permanent investments in foreign currency securities that qualify as non monetary items stay at the historical rate of acquisition. Exchange differences are computed with the corresponding market exchange rate.
Cost to do it: No fee; the effect is on the tax base at the 29.5 percent corporate rate.
Example: A company with a US$1,000,000 loan payable booked at S/ 3.368 on 31 December 2025 that restates it at S/ 3.446 records a S/ 78,000 exchange loss, deductible in 2026. / A dollar debtor reporting in soles deducts the loss when the sol weakens and pays tax on the gain when it strengthens, year by year.Texto Único Ordenado de la Ley del Impuesto a la Renta (Decreto Supremo Nº 179-2004-EF); literals e) and f) repealed by Decreto Legislativo Nº 1112 (published 29 June 2012, in force 1 January 2013); literal g) replaced by Ley Nº 29492 (published 31 December 2009, in force 1 January 2010), Art. 61, 2012-06-29 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Matter	Rule	Source
Commercial contracts	Any currency not prohibited by a special law	Código Civil art. 1237
Paying a dollar debt	In soles at the selling rate of the due date unless dollar payment is agreed	Código Civil art. 1237
Sol debt indexed to dollars or BCRP indices	Allowed; paid in soles at the reference value	Código Civil art. 1235
Tax books	Soles; dollars only under an agreement with the State	Código Tributario art. 87 num. 4
Tax returns and payments	Soles	Código Tributario art. 32 and art. 87 num. 4 a)
Exchange differences	Taxed or deducted in the year the rate moves	LIR art. 61

Which currency applies where in Peru, with the legal source.

Worked example

A foreign owned Peruvian company borrows US$1,000,000 from its parent, books it at S/ 3.368 (31 December 2025) and at the 2026 year end restates it at the rate then in force. At S/ 3.446 the liability is S/ 3,446,000, a S/ 78,000 exchange loss that reduces its 2026 taxable income; had the sol strengthened instead, the gain would be taxable. Its contracts with clients are in dollars with an express dollar payment clause, while its tax books, returns and payments stay in soles.
Argentina and Peru: Peruvian law lets a Peruvian buyer and an Argentine seller price and pay in dollars freely; any Argentine rules on settling export proceeds through the Argentine FX market are covered in The Argentine Thread guide.

Step by step

Decide the currency of each contract and, if you need payment in that currency, write it expressly; otherwise the debtor may pay in soles.
If you price in soles but want dollar value, add an indexation clause under Código Civil art. 1235 naming the reference rate (for example the SBS selling rate published by the BCRP).
Keep tax books in soles unless a dollar accounting agreement is in place; maintain dollar management accounts separately if needed.
Record each foreign currency transaction at the rate of its date and restate foreign currency balances at each period end under LIR art. 61.
Pay all taxes in soles through the means accepted by SUNAT.

Common traps

A dollar price without a dollar payment clause lets the debtor pay in soles at the selling rate of the due date.
Dollar functional currency under IFRS does not change the tax rule: books for tax stay in soles unless there is an agreement with the State.
Unrealized exchange differences on loans and receivables hit taxable income every year; a weak sol year can create large deductible losses and a strong sol year taxable gains.

Sources

Related: Peru country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X · where Argentina is involved, see The Argentine Thread guide

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