Spain's invoicing rules, with the real dates
In two years, Spain's invoicing rules have changed three times, and much of what is published still gives dates that no longer hold. Here is what is in force, with the legislation beside each statement and a visible review date.
Which obligation is which
They are constantly confused with one another, and the confusion is expensive: each has its own legislation, its own timetable and its own scope.
VeriFactu
That your software leaves a chained, unalterable record of every invoice. It is mandatory from 1 January 2027 for companies and from 1 July 2027 for everyone else.
Mandatory electronic invoicing
That invoices between businesses travel in a structured format and that their payment is reported. The regulation is published; the deadlines still have no date.
Tax calendar
Which form falls due when, with the weekend shifts applied. It is what gets forgotten when January piles up six filings.
TicketBAI
What applies in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa instead of VeriFactu. It is already mandatory in all three, with a different timetable and a different foral law in each.
Things you read out there that are not true
All of them circulate in published articles and in conversations with accountants.
| What people say | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| “VeriFactu is mandatory in 2026” | That was the case until December 2025. Real Decreto-ley 15/2025 moved it to 1 January and 1 July 2027. |
| “VeriFactu and electronic invoicing are the same thing” | They are two different pieces of legislation, from two different ministries, with different purposes and different deadlines. |
| “You have to use software approved by the AEAT” | The Tax Agency does not approve or certify invoicing software: the model is a responsible declaration by the maker. |
| “VeriFactu forces you to issue electronic invoices” | No. The regulation says so expressly: «sean electrónicas o no» — whether they are electronic or not. A paper invoice with its QR code complies just the same. |
| “Autónomos on módulos are exempt” | Being on estimación objetiva does not exempt you. What exempts you is not using any computer system to invoice. |
| “The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are outside it” | They are inside it: references to VAT are read as references to IGIC and IPSI. |
| “Form 720 was struck down by the CJEU” | What was struck down was the penalty regime and the absence of a limitation period, not the obligation to file. |
| “Form 347 is filed in January” | It is still in February. The order that brought it forward was left without effect before it ever applied. |
Which ones apply to you, in three questions
You can get through this whole section by answering three questions. No more are needed.
Do you issue invoices with any kind of software? If the answer is yes — and a spreadsheet counts as software — then VeriFactu applies to you. Companies, from 1 January 2027. Autónomos and entities under the income allocation system, from 1 July 2027. If you invoice by hand, on a paper pad, you are outside it; the moment you touch a computer, you are inside.
Is your registered tax address in common territory — the part of Spain that files with the AEAT? If it is in Álava, Bizkaia or Gipuzkoa, what applies to you is TicketBAI, which is now fully in force in all three and is a different system, with its own files and its own software register; and with three timetables that do not match, so you have to look at the one for your province. If it is in Navarre, nothing equivalent has been approved today: there is an announced project — NaTicket — and no published legislation. And watch out for two common misunderstandings: the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are inside VeriFactu, and being on the SII leaves you outside VeriFactu but not outside TicketBAI.
Do you invoice other businesses? Then mandatory electronic invoicing will reach you as well. But not yet: the regulation is in force, and its deadlines only start running with a ministerial order that has still not been published.
Why this page carries a date
Because in two years the invoicing rules have changed three times, and each change left a layer of articles online with the old dates. Search today for “when does VeriFactu come into force” and you get answers from 2025, from 2026 and from 2027, all written with complete confidence.
Here every regulation page carries a visible review date and its sources at the foot, with a link to the BOE, the Spanish official gazette. If something changes and we have not updated it, the date gives us away: better that than a page that looks eternal.
And a rule we have set ourselves: we do not give dates that are not in published legislation. Specific timetables for electronic invoicing are circulating that come from a draft ministerial order. A draft is not law.
Cairos already meets every requirement that applies
VeriFactu is included in every plan, the free one included, from the first invoice.