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November 19, 2024
2024-2117

Spain approves invoicing software specifications for taxpayers not using electronic VAT system

  • A legal instrument has come into force that imposes the technical, functional and content specifications needed to support invoicing processes and standards for invoicing data formats in Spain.
  • Manufacturers and distributors of computer systems and programs must adapt to the new standards by 29 July 2025.
 

A new legal instrument (Order HAC/1177/2024) that came into force on 29 October 2024 provides the technical requirements for adopting new invoicing software (IS) that certain businesses must use in Spain. Order HAC/1177/2024 also provides the standard formats for invoicing records used in the new IS (approved by Royal Decree 1007/2023, of 5 December 2023).

Generally, businesses that do not keep electronic books in real time through the electronic value-added tax (VAT) Immediate Supply of Information System (SII) shall adapt their IS before 1 July 2025. However, the Spanish Tax Authorities (STA) published a public consultation document on the Ministry of Finance website on 4 November 2024, proposing to delay the entry into force until 1 January 2026 for Corporate Income taxpayers and until 1 July 2026 for other taxpayers.

Manufacturers and distributors of new IS will need to adapt to the new standards by 29 July 2025. They must certify that the IS they produce or distribute complies with the new requirements by incorporating a "responsible declaration" in those IS systems.

New IS main features

New IS must guarantee the integrity, conservation, accessibility, readability, traceability and inalterability of invoicing records. To this end, invoicing records may not be altered without the IS's detecting the change.

The IS must create a record of events by automatically collecting all actions performed in the new IS. All invoicing records shall include a fingerprint or "hash" and be signed electronically, unless they are sent through the VERI*FACTU systems.1

The registration invoicing records must include VAT and invoicing information that is consistent with the mandatory information for the SII system.

The NIF shall have the capacity to submit the invoicing records to the STA website automatically and securely. Initially, the submission of invoicing registers to the STA will be optional. But, in the future, submission will be compulsory.

There will be two types of the new IS:

  1. VERI*FACTU systems or verifiable invoices systems — i.e., when the taxpayer opts to submit the invoicing records to the STA website. Once this option is chosen, the taxpayer must remain in this modality at least until the end of the calendar year. In such case, invoices must include the wording "Invoice verifiable at the STA's website" or "VERI*FACTU." The recipient of the invoice will be able to check it at the STA website using the quick-response (QR) code or website link (uniform resource locator or URL) included in the invoice.
  2. Unverifiable invoices systems — i.e., when the taxpayer opts not to submit the invoicing records to the STA website. In such case, there will be additional guarantee functions for the invoicing records, such as the registration of events or the electronic signing of the invoicing records.

Taxpayers affected by new IS

The new IS will apply to:

  • Corporate income tax taxpayers, with the exception of exempt or partially exempt entities
  • Personal income tax taxpayers who carry out economic activities
  • Nonresident income tax taxpayers who obtain income through a permanent establishment in Spain
  • Entities under the income attribution regime that carry out economic activities

The new IS will not be required on certain transactions, such as those carried out through permanent establishments located outside Spain or those carried out by taxpayers applying the Spanish equivalence surcharge and simplified VAT special schemes.

The new IS will also not apply to taxpayers who must comply with the TicketBAI 2 systems in the Spanish regions of the Basque Country and Navarre. However, the new IS will be applicable in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla.

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Endnotes

1 VERI*FACTU is the obligation established by Spain's General Tax Law for taxpayers to preserve invoices, documents and supporting evidence related to tax obligations, guaranteeing their legibility, traceability and immutability, in electronic format.

2 TicketBAI requires businesses to send their invoices directly to the Treasury of each province.

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Contact Information

For additional information concerning this Alert, please contact:

Ernst & Young Abogados, Spain

Ernst & Young LLP, Spanish Tax Desk, New York

Published by NTD’s Tax Technical Knowledge Services group; Carolyn Wright, legal editor
 

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