Technical description
The main change in version 1.40 is the adjustment of CNPJ fields from numeric (“N”) to character (“C”) format to support Brazil’s new alphanumeric CNPJ structure. The implementation dates shown in the document are July 8, 2026, for both testing and production environments.
The NFeDistribuicaoDFe service allows authorized users with a valid digital certificate to retrieve NF-e documents and related events of interest. The service supports three main query types: distNSU, for distributing documents from the last NSU; consNSU, for consulting a specific NSU; and consChNFe, for consulting an NF-e by access key.
Returned documents are provided in XML format, compressed with Gzip in the docZip field, with up to 50 documents per batch. Documents are generally available for retrieval for up to 90 days after being received by the National NF-e Environment.
The technical note also reinforces rules against misuse of the service. If no more documents are available, users must wait one hour before sending another request. Repeated or out-of-sequence queries may trigger rejection code 656 – Improper Consumption, temporarily blocking the CNPJ from further queries.
Overall, the update is mainly technical but important for ERP, e-invoicing, middleware, and tax compliance systems in Brazil. Companies must ensure that their NF-e distribution integrations can process alphanumeric CNPJ values, follow NSU sequencing rules, handle compressed XML returns, and respect query limits.
Other news from Brazil
Brazil Publishes Test CNPJs for Fiscal Document Homologation
Brazil
Author: Ivana Picajkić
Brazil's Federal Tax Authority released an Excel spreadsheet with simulated CNPJs and State Registration numbers for use in the homologation environment. Read more
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Already subscriber? LoginBrazil Technical Note 2026.004 v1.01: NF-e and NFC-e Schemas Updated for Alphanumeric CNPJ Format
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