Verifactu for autónomos in Spain: the new invoicing software rules

Summary

• Verifactu is the short name for Spain’s rules on invoicing software. They sit in Real Decreto 1007/2023, which develops the anti-fraud law of 2021.
• The start dates have moved twice. The dates in force today are 1 January 2027 for corporate income tax payers and 1 July 2027 for everyone else, autónomos included.
• Those dates come from Real Decreto-ley 15/2025, of 2 December, which Congress convalidated on 11 December 2025.
• There are two ways to comply. You either send every invoice record to the Agencia Tributaria as you issue it, or you keep the records locally in a form that cannot be altered.
• Every invoice from such a system gets a QR code of 30 x 30 to 40 x 40 millimetres. Only systems that send records add the words “VERI*FACTU”.
• Fines run to 50,000 euros per financial year for holding systems that are not properly certified when a regulation required them to be, or whose certified devices have been altered, and to 150,000 euros per financial year for making or selling non-compliant systems.

Introduction

If you invoice clients as an autónomo, Verifactu in Spain is the rule change that will touch your day to day work. It does not change what you pay. It changes the software you use to write an invoice. From a set date, your invoicing program has to create a locked record of every invoice and chain it to the one before. It then either sends that record to the tax office or stores it so that nobody can edit it later.

The dates have slipped several times, which is why so much of what you read online is out of date. This guide sets out what the rules say right now, which legal text each date comes from, and what it means for a one person business. It is general information, not tax advice. Rules differ by situation.

What is Verifactu, and which law created it?

Verifactu is a set of technical rules for the software that businesses and professionals use to issue invoices. The anti-fraud law, Ley 11/2021, added a duty to the General Tax Law: invoicing systems must guarantee that records stay complete, readable, traceable and unchanged. Real Decreto 1007/2023 turned that duty into detailed requirements.

Three texts matter. Ley 11/2021 added article 29.2.j) to the General Tax Law. Real Decreto 1007/2023, of 5 December, approved the regulation itself, usually shortened to RRSIF. Orden HAC/1177/2024, of 17 October, added the technical detail: the format of each record, the hash that links one record to the next, and the design of the QR code.

The aim is to stop software that lets a user quietly delete or rewrite an invoice after the fact. Every invoice now leaves a trace the program cannot remove.

One term is worth separating early. “Sistema informático de facturación” (SIF) means any invoicing software you use. “VERI*FACTU” is the name of one of the two ways that software can comply. Many articles use the second word for both ideas, which causes a lot of the confusion.

When do the Verifactu rules start for autónomos in Spain?

Autónomos and other self-employed taxpayers have until 1 July 2027 to have compliant invoicing software in use. Companies that pay corporate income tax have until 1 January 2027. Both dates come from Real Decreto-ley 15/2025, of 2 December 2025, which replaced the earlier deadlines. Congress convalidated that decree on 11 December 2025.

Before that, two other sets of dates existed. The original regulation set a single date of 1 July 2025 for all obliged taxpayers. Real Decreto 254/2025, of 1 April, split that into 1 January 2026 for corporate income tax payers and 1 July 2026 for the rest. Real Decreto-ley 15/2025 then pushed both back by one year.

Verifactu deadlines by type of taxpayer

Why the dates keep moving

Each delay has had the same reason: software makers and their customers needed longer to adapt. The 2025 decree gives that reason in its preamble, alongside the wish for one orderly roll-out.

There is a further step you should know about, because it is not law yet. On 5 October 2026 the Ministry of Finance published a note announcing its intention to move the remaining Verifactu obligations to October 2028. The aim is to line them up with mandatory e-invoicing for businesses that turn over 8 million euros or less. That note describes a planned change, not an approved one. Nothing has appeared in the BOE. Until it does, the dates in the AEAT’s own note stand: 1 January 2027 and 1 July 2027.

What is the difference between Verifactu mode and non-Verifactu mode?

Compliant software works in one of two modes. In Verifactu mode, the program sends a summary record of each invoice to the Agencia Tributaria automatically as you issue it. In non-Verifactu mode, the program keeps the records itself, signs them electronically, and must hold them unchanged for the whole statute of limitations period.

The second mode is stricter in practice. A system that does not send records must sign each invoice and event record electronically. It has to keep an event log of things like restarts and configuration changes. It has to hold its clock within one minute of real time, and let an inspector export everything on request.

Verifactu mode drops several of those duties. Because the records are already with the tax office, electronic signature of the records is not required, and the local storage and export duties fall away. The trade-off is that you need a working internet connection and you accept continuous reporting.

You choose Verifactu mode simply by starting to send records. There is no form. Once you start, you stay in that mode at least until the end of the calendar year.

What changes on the invoice itself?

Two things appear on paper. Every invoice issued through compliant software carries a QR code, sized between 30 x 30 and 40 x 40 millimetres, built to the ISO/IEC 18004 standard. Invoices from a system in Verifactu mode also carry the phrase “Factura verificable en la sede electrónica de la AEAT” or simply “VERI*FACTU”, in a clearly visible font.

The QR code holds a verification web address, your tax number, the invoice series and number, the issue date and the total. Your client can scan it. If the invoice carries the verifiable wording, the scan also confirms that the record reached the tax office.

The same requirements apply to simplified invoices, the short receipts many autónomos issue to private customers. If you sell to consumers, your till receipts change too.

What does not change is the rest of the invoice. Your tax number, your client’s details, the taxable base, the IVA rate and any IRPF withholding all stay as they are. If those terms are new to you, the Spanish tax glossary explains them one by one. Your quarterly returns in Spain keep the same forms and the same deadlines.

Who is left out of the Verifactu obligation?

Several groups fall outside the rules, each with a condition attached. Taxpayers in the SII system are excluded, on condition that they keep their VAT ledgers through the AEAT’s electronic office under article 62.6 of the VAT regulation. Entities fully exempt from corporate income tax are excluded. So is anyone who issues no invoices through software at all.

Regional rules matter here. Taxpayers whose business activity falls under the foral direct tax rules of the Basque Country or Navarra are outside the scope of this regulation. In the Basque provinces a comparable system already exists, called TicketBAI. What decides this is your tax domicile. If it sits in common territory, the Spanish state rules apply, whichever region you live in.

Two more cases. Activities that are not business activities, such as renting out a property without staff, fall outside. The head of the AEAT’s inspection department can also waive the rules for a sector, or for a taxpayer who shows that complying is technically impossible. That waiver can be temporary and conditional.

Can you still invoice in Word or Excel?

Sometimes, and the line is narrow. The AEAT says the regulation does not catch a word processor or spreadsheet used only to type up an invoice, print it and keep a copy. A plain list of invoices with a total column is also fine.

The moment the spreadsheet does more, it becomes invoicing software. The AEAT’s own example is a spreadsheet with a macro that generates the VAT record book. That counts as a SIF and has to meet every requirement, which a spreadsheet will not do.

Handwritten invoices and invoices typed on a pre-printed pad stay outside the rules, because no software is involved. But you cannot have it both ways: once you use invoicing software, all of your invoicing goes through it. The AEAT also offers a free basic invoicing application.

How is Verifactu different from mandatory e-invoicing between businesses?

These are two separate projects and they are constantly mixed up. Verifactu is about the software that produces an invoice and the records it leaves behind. Mandatory business to business e-invoicing is about the format in which you send the invoice to your client, and it comes from a different law.

That second obligation sits in Ley 18/2022, the “Crea y Crece” law. It was developed by Real Decreto 238/2026, of 25 March, and by Orden HAC/1028/2026, of 2 October, which regulates the public invoicing platform. The order was published on 5 October 2026 and took effect the day after, which started the clock.

From that point the regulation gives twelve months to businesses and professionals whose turnover in the previous calendar year was above 8 million euros, and twenty-four months to everyone else. Most autónomos sit in the second group.

In practice one product will usually cover both. But the dates and the legal basis are different, so a product that handles one does not automatically handle the other.

What the penalties are, and what to do before your date

Article 201 bis of the General Tax Law sets the fines. Holding an invoicing system that does not meet the requirements is a serious infringement, and its fixed fine of 50,000 euros for each financial year applies where the systems are not properly certified although a regulation required that, or where certified devices have been altered or modified. Making, producing or selling non-compliant systems carries 150,000 euros for each financial year and each type of system concerned; in place of that amount, selling a system that lacks the certificate it needed carries 1,000 euros for each system sold. Those heavier amounts fall on software makers. One point to keep in mind: the current regulation does not set up a certification duty for invoicing software, but a responsible declaration (declaración responsable) from the producer.

There is a sensible order to work in. Ask your invoicing provider, in writing, whether the product will be adapted and in which mode it will work. If you invoice from a spreadsheet, start looking now, because that is the setup that needs replacing. Check that you can log in to the tax office with a digital certificate or Cl@ve PIN. Then note your date in the Spanish tax calendar.

Nothing about Verifactu changes what you can deduct or what you owe. While you review your admin, the guide to deductible expenses for freelancers covers what counts as a business cost, and the quarterly Modelo 130 and 303 returns stay exactly as they are.

Tytle works with freelancers in Spain on autónomo registration and tax management, quarterly filings and record keeping. If you are unsure which of these rules apply to your situation, you can go through it with a tax professional before your deadline.