Glossary

Forty-five words that turn up in your invoices and your tax forms

Each with its one-sentence definition, a worked example with numbers, the mistake that comes up most and the legislation cited with its article. Type above and they filter themselves.

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45 terms

Invoicing

The documents you get paid with and what each of them really means.

Taxable baseThe total consideration for a transaction before VAT is applied to it: what you really charge for your work or your goods.Simplified invoiceAn invoice with less compulsory content, allowed only below certain amounts and for a defined list of transactions.Corrective invoiceThe invoice that corrects one already issued, in its own series and referring expressly to the invoice being corrected.Pro forma invoiceAn informative document that looks like an invoice but has no tax effect: it does not trigger the chargeable event, it is not entered in the books and it does not allow a deduction.Delivery noteThe document evidencing the delivery of goods and its date; it is not an invoice and has no tax effect on its own.Sequential numberingThe obligation to number invoices consecutively within each series, with no gaps and no repeats.Invoice seriesA group of invoices with its own sequential numbering, usually identified by a prefix.SuplidoAn amount paid in the client's name and on their behalf, under express instructions, which is passed on to them without VAT and does not form part of your taxable base.Advance on accountMoney the client hands over in advance, which triggers VAT if it is on account of your work and does not if it is to pay costs in their name.

VAT

The tax collected on Hacienda's behalf and everything that hangs off it.

VAT charged (cuota repercutida)The VAT you add to the taxable base of your invoice and charge the client, to pay over to Hacienda afterwards.Input VATThe VAT you pay your suppliers on purchases and expenses, deductible only if the goods or the service are used in your activity and you have the full invoice.VAT accrued (IVA devengado)The VAT generated by the period's transactions, regardless of whether the client has paid or not.Devengo (the chargeable event)The moment a transaction is treated as having taken place and the tax obligation arises, regardless of when it is paid for.ProrrataThe percentage of your input VAT you can deduct when your activity combines transactions carrying a right to deduct with exempt transactions.The special prorrata ruleThe method that lets you deduct in full the VAT on expenses used only for transactions carrying a right to deduct, instead of applying a single percentage to everything.Capital goodsTangible goods intended to be used for more than a year as a tool of the trade or means of production, subject to a multi-year adjustment of the VAT deducted.Reverse chargeThe mechanism by which the customer of a transaction, and not the person carrying it out, is the one liable to declare the VAT.Recargo de equivalenciaThe special VAT regime for retailers: they pay a surcharge on their purchases and in exchange they neither file self-assessments nor deduct VAT.Cash basis regimeThe special regime that delays the chargeable event for VAT until payment is received, and the deduction of input VAT until payment is made.Filing periodThe interval each self-assessment is worked out and filed for: quarterly as a general rule, monthly in a defined set of cases.

IRPF and withholdings

How an autónomo's earnings are worked out and what they pay Hacienda in advance.

Estimación directaThe IRPF regime in which the income from the activity is worked out by deducting real deductible expenses from real income.Estimación objetivaThe IRPF regime in which income is worked out by applying signs, indices or módulos — staff, floor area, power rating, tables — instead of the real profit.Net incomeWhat is left after deducting the tax-deductible expenses from the gross income of the activity, before applying any reductions.Instalment paymentThe payment on account made during the year of a tax that is settled at the year-end.IRPF withholdingThe amount the payer holds back from an invoice or a salary and pays over to Hacienda on account of the IRPF of whoever is being paid.

Accounting

Books, journal entries, depreciation and the year-end close.

Record bookThe compulsory record, in date order, of the invoices issued and received, which underpins the self-assessments and the annual summaries.Journal entryThe entry that records an economic event in the journal, split between debit and credit accounts for the same amount.DepreciationThe systematic spreading of the cost of a fixed asset across the years in which it is used, as a deductible expense of each of them.Net book valueThe acquisition price of an asset less its accumulated depreciation and less any impairment recognised.Annual accountsThe set of documents with which a company closes its financial year, which its general meeting approves and which it files at the Registro Mercantil.Plan General ContableThe rules that set out, in Spain, the accounting recognition and measurement criteria, the annual accounts formats and the chart of accounts.

Non-profit bodies

What only comes up in associations, foundations and cooperatives.

Annual financial reportThe document in which a non-profit body sets out its income and expenditure for the year, identified by category and by project.Entidad de utilidad públicaThe administrative declaration recognising that an association serves the general interest, with associated advantages and accountability obligations.Mandatory reserve fundThe non-distributable reserve to which a cooperative has to allocate a minimum percentage of its surplus each year.Retorno cooperativoThe share of the distributable surplus that a cooperative pays out to its members in proportion to the cooperative activity each of them has carried out.Cuenta justificativaThe file with which the recipient of a grant proves to the awarding body that the activity was carried out and how the funds were spent.

Regulations

Registers, records and checks that have to be done before you invoice.

Intra-Community VAT numberThe tax identification number with the ES prefix, assigned once you are registered on the Register of Intra-Community Operators and visible in VIES.ROIThe Tax Agency's Register of Intra-Community Operators, which you have to be on to trade without VAT with the rest of the European Union.VIESThe European Commission's VAT information exchange system, where you check whether an intra-Community VAT number is registered for intra-Community transactions.

Payments and banking

Direct debits, batches, payment periods and matching the bank statement.

SEPAThe single euro payments area, in which transfers and direct debits work under the same rules in every country that belongs to it.Direct debitThe collection order the creditor presents to their bank so that the amount leaves the debtor's account, backed by a mandate the debtor has signed.SEPA mandateThe authorisation signed by the debtor allowing the creditor to raise debits against their account and their bank to honour them.Direct debit batchThe set of debits or payment orders sent to the bank in one go, in a file in a standard format.Bank reconciliationThe process of reconciling the balance on the bank statement with the accounting balance of the current account, identifying every difference.Due dateThe date on which the amount of an invoice becomes payable and from which it starts to generate interest for late payment.

The most looked up

Six worth reading even if you are not looking for them

They are the ones most often behind a badly filed quarter or a deduction that cannot be supported.

VAT

Prorrata

The percentage of your input VAT you can deduct when your activity combines transactions carrying a right to deduct with exempt transactions.

Invoicing

Simplified invoice

An invoice with less compulsory content, allowed only below certain amounts and for a defined list of transactions.

Invoicing

Suplido

An amount paid in the client's name and on their behalf, under express instructions, which is passed on to them without VAT and does not form part of your taxable base.

VAT

Cash basis regime

The special regime that delays the chargeable event for VAT until payment is received, and the deduction of input VAT until payment is made.

Payments and banking

SEPA mandate

The authorisation signed by the debtor allowing the creditor to raise debits against their account and their bank to honour them.

Non-profit bodies

Cuenta justificativa

The file with which the recipient of a grant proves to the awarding body that the activity was carried out and how the funds were spent.

How this glossary is written

A tax glossary is easy to fill and hard to make useful. Most of them repeat the legal definition, which is already in the BOE and which almost nobody understands first time. This one follows three rules.

One: the definition fits in one sentence. It is right at the top of every entry, on the blue background. If you have to read three paragraphs to find out what a prorrata is, the entry is no use.

Two: if the concept is arithmetic, it comes with euros. A percentage with no number beside it means nothing. The examples are worked out and you can follow them with a calculator.

Three: the common mistake is the important part. When somebody searches for “what is a suplido” it is usually because they already have a problem with one. The definition answers the question; the common mistake solves the problem.

And one more rule, which does not show but tells: what cannot be verified does not get written. The self-employed contribution bands, the módulos limits or the amount of the reduced cuota change every January and depend on rules that are sometimes not even approved yet. When one of those figures comes up, this site says so and links to the body, rather than risk someone taking a decision on an old number.

If you are after longer explanations — how to register, how to close a quarter, how to set up an association — they are in the guides. And if what you are looking for is a specific form, in Hacienda's forms.

Questions about the glossary

Where do this glossary's definitions come from?

From the legislation, cited with its article in every entry: the VAT Act and Regulations, the IRPF Act and Regulations, the invoicing regulations, the Código de Comercio, the Plan General de Contabilidad and the acts governing associations, foundations and cooperatives. At the foot of every term are the links to the BOE.

Why are there no figures for the cuota de autónomos or the módulos limits?

Because they change every year and an out-of-date figure is worse than none. The contribution bands are set by a ministerial order each year and the módulos limits are carried over by a transitional provision. When something depends on the current year, we say so and link to the body that publishes it.

Does the search box send my searches anywhere?

No. All 45 terms are in this page's own HTML and the filter runs in your browser. There are no requests to the server, no analytics on what you type and no third-party suggestions.

I am looking for a term and it is not here. Can you add it?

Yes. The glossary grows with what people ask about. Write to us at hola@cairos.es with the term and, if it is in our field — invoicing, VAT, IRPF, accounting or non-profit bodies — we will write it.

Does this replace an adviser?

No. A glossary explains concepts; an adviser applies the rules to your case, which almost always has details no general page can anticipate. What this page does do is start the conversation with your adviser a step higher up.

How often is it reviewed?

When the legislation it cites changes. Dated figures — such as the VeriFactu ones, 1 January 2027 for Corporation Tax payers and 1 July 2027 for everyone else — are updated as soon as the amendment is published in the BOE.

From the definition to having it done

Cairos invoices, keeps the record books and works out the tax forms from the same data. Half the terms on this page stop being a problem as soon as the software handles them.

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Cairos's long guides→Every one of Hacienda's forms→The rules, explained without fluff→The tax calendar→Free calculators→Cairos pricing→