Code10 eInvoicing – eFactura B2B Spain

In July 2017, Spain was among the first countries to implement automatic VAT reporting through the SII. Similarly, since 2015, there has been the Facturae standard for the exchange of B2G electronic invoices with public administrations. 

With law 18/2022 on Business Creation and Growth, also known as “Ley Crea y Crece” , Spain joins other EU countries (Italy, France, Poland…) and will implement electronic invoicing between companies (B2B invoicing). The purpose of this law is to improve the invoicing process and fight against tax fraud. 

Companies are faced with the challenge of preparing for the new invoicing model, which in many cases will require the adaptation of some of their processes. But, far from seeing it as a drawback, this change should be seen as an opportunity for modernization. There are clear benefits derived from the implementation of electronic invoicing processes, for example: 

– Reduction of invoicing time and costs: through automation, the invoicing process is streamlined, and errors are avoided. 

– Improved traceability of transactions with customers and suppliers: every transaction is secure and automatically recorded by both the invoice issuer and the tax authorities. This helps to reduce tax evasion and streamline payment management. 

Initially, the technical specification was to be ready 6 months after the approval of the law. However, at this moment, the process is still in the public consultation phase to collect contributions from the different stakeholders involved: companies, billing service providers or software companies among others, to prepare the technical regulation. 

Once the regulation is approved, companies must comply with the following schedule: 

– For companies subject to SII, whose turnover exceeds €8m per year, the implementation period is 1 year from the approval of the technical regulation.  

– The rest of the companies, whose turnover is less than €8m, will have 2 years to implement the process once the technical regulation is approved. At CODE10 we are following all the news about Spanish eInvoice and we will keep our customers informed of the latest developments at all times. If you want to know the latest news about electronic invoicing in Spain do not hesitate to contact us and we will keep you up to date with the latest news! 

Update 05/12/2023

REGULATION OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF BILLING COMPUTER PROGRAMS – Spain aka VeriFactu

🔶 When: 📆 July 1, 2025

🔶 Who: Producers and marketers of billing software.

🔶 Exempt: Companies that currently send the SII

What does the law say?

The standard establishes that computer systems must guarantee the integrity, conservation, accessibility, legibility, traceability and unalterability of billing records.

Invoices must contain:

🔺 Tax identification number and name and surname, complete company name of the entity obliged to issue the invoice.

🔺The invoice number and, if applicable, series of the invoice.

🔺The date of issue of the invoice and the date on which the operations documented in it were carried out.

🔺The type of invoice issued, indicating whether it is a complete or simplified invoice

🔺The general description of the operations and the total amount of the invoice.

🔺Indication of the regime or regimes applied to the operations documented for the purposes of Value Added Tax, or other operations with tax significance.

🔺Chained hash: Unique fingerprint that links the invoice with the previous ones.

🔺Electronic signature of the records that is not necessary in the case of voluntary sending of data to the Tax Agency.

Update 18/10/2023

• On June 15th, the draft technical regulation for mandatory e-invoicing was published.
• Businesses with over €8 million in revenue will have 1-2 years to comply, while others have until Q1 2025.
• Key points of the regulation include:Interconnection between e-invoicing platforms.
• Format interoperability.
• Receivers must report invoice status.
• No forced use of specific service providers.
• Easy access and archiving for 4 years.
• We anticipate a free public software solution for e-invoicing, with optional functionalities but not at the same level as private options we provide.
• Stay tuned for the final decree and our integration solutions for SAP.

Update 20/06/2023

On 15/06/2023 the draft of the decree that develops the technical specification for B2B invoicing in Spain was released. The key points described by the decree are the following:

• Regulates what should be understood as an electronic invoice between businesses and professionals, as well as aspects related to the structure for the electronic invoice message.
• Regulates the obligation of private electronic invoicing platforms to accept interconnection requests made by any other private platform.
• Creates the public electronic invoicing solution that will be managed by the State Tax Administration Agency.
• Regulates the obligation to report on the time of effective payment of the invoices received while enabling the ways to do so. This obligation is modulated according to the size of the companies.
• Establishes the requirements to operate as an electronic invoice exchange platform.

The full draft can be accessed  HERE (in Spanish)

However, we still need to wait for the final approval of the decree to know when this will be effective so, keep tuned to the latest news in our website and social media!

Update 06/06/2023

During last AUSAPE conference we could attend a session by José Borja, direcotr of the IT tax department of the spanish tax agency. He gave us the last status regarding the technical specification and helped clarify some of the open points still on the table.

First of all, we need to point out that July general elections in Spain add a point of uncertainty regarding timing. This can delay the process as it’s uncertain that the government would approve the regulation before the elections. However, there are some aspects that were clarified during the session: 

1. The tax agency preference is that there’s a central platform to receive the invoices that can be complementary to the eInvoicing private platforms
2. Payment reporting is a key of the new regulation so new functionalities will be released on that matter.
3. XML format needs to be clarified discussions are from enhanced Facturae format to adopting standard defined by EU

Thank you for the interest in the Code10 eInvoicing – Integración SAP for eFactura Spain® . If you would like to get the latest updates about this new legal requirement, please provide us with your contact details below. We will send you further information and answer any questions you may have.