Verifactu: New Deadlines for Invoicing Software in Spain

Few tax topics have caused as much confusion among self-employed people in Spain lately as Verifactu. First, the obligation to use tamper-proof invoicing software was supposed to start in July 2025, then from January 2026 for corporations. Shortly before Christmas the government pushed the calendar back a second time: the dates are now January 1, 2027 for companies and July 1, 2027 for autonomos. So if someone tells you that you already need certified software today, that is not correct. The obligation has not been scrapped either, only postponed. If you work as an autonomo on Mallorca or run an SL, this is the time to plan the switch, while there is no pressure.

What Verifactu is

Verifactu is a set of rules from the Spanish Real Decreto 1007/2023. It requires companies and self-employed people to create invoices with software that chains every invoice record in a tamper-proof way, adds a QR code, and, if you choose, sends the data straight to the tax agency AEAT. The goal is that nobody can delete or quietly change invoices after the fact.

In practice, a compliant program has to generate a record for every invoice that is linked by hash to the previous one. If someone deletes or corrects something, a trace remains. The invoice itself carries a QR code that lets the recipient check it with the AEAT. There are two ways to operate: in Verifactu mode, the software sends every invoice record to the AEAT immediately. In the second mode, the signed records stay in your own system and have to be produced on request. Most providers go with the first option because it is technically simpler and eases the record-keeping obligations.

One important distinction: Verifactu is not the same as the planned general obligation for electronic B2B invoicing under the Crea y Crece law. These are two separate projects with their own timelines. Verifactu governs how your software has to create and record invoices, not the format in which you send them to business clients.

When the obligation starts

The current timeline is set out in Real Decreto-ley 15/2025, published in the official gazette BOE on December 3, 2025:

• Corporations (corporate income tax payers, which includes the SL): from January 1, 2027
• Autonomos and everyone else affected: from July 1, 2027
• Companies in the SII system (real-time VAT reporting, mandatory from roughly 6 million EUR annual turnover): exempt, because they already report their invoice data to the AEAT continuously

This is already the second postponement. Originally the obligation was meant to start in July 2025, then it became January and July 2026. I think it is unlikely that 2027 will be pushed back again: the software makers are now largely certified, and the AEAT has had its systems running for a long time. You can use Verifactu mode voluntarily right now, by the way. Many Spanish programs have offered it since 2025.

What the penalties are

The legislator deliberately set the sanctions high, on both sides. Anyone who makes or sells non-compliant invoicing software pays up to 150,000 EUR per financial year. For users, which includes you as an autonomo, Article 201 bis of the Spanish General Tax Law (Ley General Tributaria) provides for 50,000 EUR per financial year. Simply possessing software that can be manipulated is enough; the authority does not have to prove fraud.

And what about Word and Excel? If you have been writing your invoices by hand in a template, saving them as PDF and sending them off, then strictly speaking, in the AEAT's reading, you are not using an invoicing system within the meaning of the regulation. But the line is thin: as soon as a program processes and stores invoice data, it falls under the rules. I would not rely on that loophole. For almost all self-employed people it comes down to either compliant software or the AEAT's free basic application.

How to prepare

July 2027 sounds like plenty of time. Experience with Spanish administrative deadlines shows, though, that the switch goes more smoothly if you do not leave it to the last month. A sensible plan:

If you are just setting up, have a look at our autonomo guide: anyone who works with compliant software from day one will have nothing to change in 2027.

Do I already have to use Verifactu software as an autonomo in 2026?

No. For autonomos the obligation only applies from July 1, 2027, for corporations from January 1, 2027. You can, however, switch on Verifactu mode voluntarily before then. Many programs already offer it.

Conclusion

Verifactu is coming, just later than originally planned. For you as a self-employed person on Mallorca that means: no reason to panic, but a clear task for 2026. Check your current invoicing setup, ask the manufacturer for the declaration of conformity, and test the new mode before it becomes mandatory. Fines of 50,000 EUR per financial year are too high to sit this one out. If your bookkeeping is already with a gestoria, the switch is usually sorted with a single conversation.