New rules for electronic invoicing in Spain to come into force from July

Unless an extension is approved, Royal Decree 1007/2023, of December 5, will come into force in July 2025. This Royal Decree establishes the requirements that must be adopted by the systems and software supporting the invoicing processes of entrepreneurs and professionals, and the standardisation of invoice record formats.

Regulatory purpose

The regulation lays out the requirements and technical specifications that invoicing software must meet to ensure the integrity and immutability of invoices, so that invoice records are made without interpolations, omissions, or modifications.

For the purposes of applying the regulation, an "invoicing software system" is considered to be the set of hardware and software used to issue invoices and that, in summary, performs the following functions:

• Admit the entry of invoicing information by any method.
• Preserve the invoicing information.
• Process the invoicing information by any procedure that allows producing other derived results.

Obliged parties

The obligation to apply the regulation will affect developers and marketers of invoicing software. Likewise, this obligation will also affect corporate taxpayers and individuals conducting economic activities – provided they use invoicing software systems.

However, this obligation will not cover taxpayers who keep their invoice records – that is, value-added tax (VAT) books – through the Spanish Tax Administration Agency (AEAT) electronic system known as Immediate Supply of Information. Essentially, these would be those whose turnover exceeded €6 million in the previous year, those registered in the Monthly VAT Refund Register, known as REDEME, or those who are part of a VAT group of entities.

Additionally, some objective exceptions are foreseen for certain activities or sectors: for example, taxpayers under the special regime for agriculture, livestock, and fishing, the simplified regime, or the VAT equivalence surcharge regime.

Compliance options

Obliged parties can comply with the obligations derived from the regulation through a software system that meets the requirements provided by the regulation or through the software solution offered by the AEAT for this purpose.

Requirements for invoicing software systems

In summary, invoicing software systems must ensure the following regarding the invoice records generated by them:

• Their integrity and immutability, so that once generated, they cannot be modified or hidden.
• Their traceability, so that they are chained and the sequence from the first to the last can be verified without interpolations or hidden records.
• Their preservation, accessibility and readability during the Spanish tax authorities statute of limitations for verifying tax formal obligations.

In practical terms, this means that, before or simultaneously with the issuance of an invoice, the invoicing system must automatically generate an invoice record that includes an electronic footprint or hash, which must be electronically signed. These invoice records will contain the standard invoice information – such as the issuer and recipient data, date, invoice number, amounts and type of invoice – and, additionally, the following information to meet the regulation's objectives:

• The date, hour, minute and second of the creation of the invoice record.
• The number of the previous invoice record and its footprint or hash.
• The identification code of the invoicing software system.

Similarly, for the cancellation records of a previous record, they must include the identification data of the cancelled invoice or record, including its footprint or hash, as well as the date, hour, minute and second when the cancellation record is generated.

Additionally, invoicing software systems must be able to securely and continuously send the invoice record information to the Spanish tax authorities electronically, regardless of whether they are effectively sent.

These software systems must include a certification or written and visible responsible declaration stating that they comply with the regulation's requirements.

Veri*Factu systems

Those invoicing software systems that effectively and continuously send invoice records to the Spanish tax authorities will be considered verifiable invoice issuance systems known as Veri*Factu systems. These will not need to sign the invoicing records with a digital signature, as it will be sufficient to include the footprint or hash. The option to use Veri*Factu systems must be extended at least until the end of the first calendar year in which the invoice records begin to be sent to the Spanish tax authorities.

Sanctioning regime

Specific sanctions are foreseen for both producers and marketers and users who use invoicing software systems that do not comply with the obligations stipulated in the regulation and do not include the aforementioned certification or responsible declaration. Sanctions are also foreseen for taxpayers who modify or alter these software systems. These sanctions can be material (generally, €50,000 per year for users of the software, or €150,000 for producers and marketers).

Other obligations and developments

The regulation also amends the Spanish Invoicing Regulation (Royal Decree 1619/2012) to include significant new updates. The main one is the requirement that invoices issued through computer systems that comply with the Regulation's requirements must incorporate a QR code that contains a graphical representation of the invoice's content.

This QR code will allow the invoice recipient to provide voluntarily certain information from the invoice to the Spanish tax authorities. It facilitates the data contained in the QR code through a device capable of reading the code and transmitting and receiving data. To this end, the Spanish tax authorities will provide an electronic route on its website to receive this information.

Additionally, invoices issued through the Veri*Factu systems must obligatorily include the mention "Invoice verifiable at the Spanish Tax Authorities electronic system" or "Veri*Factu". In the case of these invoices, recipients will be able to verify their submission by the issuer on the Spanish tax authorities' website.