Verifactu on Hold: Necessary Moratorium or Blow to Legal Certainty?

Verifactu on hold: relief for some, frustration for others

The government has again changed a central measure in its anti-fraud reform: mandatory use of Verifactu, the new invoicing software system. A decree law postpones the obligation until 2027: 1 January for corporate income tax payers and 1 July for self-employed workers and other covered taxpayers. The decision, announced with the 2026 deadline approaching as part of a wider political package, has prompted relief, anger and distrust.

1. What Verifactu is and why it matters

Verifactu is the common name for the Regulation on Requirements for Computerised Invoicing Systems (RRSIF), approved by Royal Decree 1007/2023 under Anti-Fraud Law 11/2021 and article 29.2.j of the General Tax Law. It requires software designed to prevent deletion or alteration, with complete, traceable and unchangeable records; unique identifiers and chained records; and, in many cases, a verifiable QR code. The Tax Agency can access the records through immediate submission or accessible storage. Using or marketing software that enables off-the-books accounting can attract penalties of up to €50,000 for users and €150,000 for suppliers.

In practice, the system aims to end dual-use software and move towards near real-time oversight of invoicing by small businesses and the self-employed.

2. A shifting implementation timetable

1. 2021: Anti-Fraud Law 11/2021 amends the General Tax Law and announces the end of dual-use software.
2. 2023: Royal Decree 1007/2023 is approved, initially setting July 2025 as the start date.
3. First postponement, April 2025: deadlines move to January and July 2026, depending on the taxpayer.
4. Second postponement, December 2025: Royal Decree-Law 15/2025 moves the dates to January and July 2027.

This effectively adds two years to the original transition period. The legal-certainty concern is that businesses and developers are asked to invest around an official deadline, only for the rules to change again weeks before it arrives.

3. A controversial moratorium: relief for some, a setback for others

Relief for businesses that were not ready

Self-employed workers’ organisations had warned that many businesses were not technically or financially prepared. In regions with many microbusinesses, chambers of commerce and Acelera Pyme offices described the delay as necessary. It can prevent a regulatory shock, give businesses time to use public support and digitalisation programmes, and allow them to adapt processes, train staff and choose software.

Frustration among businesses that already adapted

Reports said more than 40,000 companies were already operating under Verifactu criteria or had advanced implementation plans. They had invested in software, integrations and training and absorbed the cost of meeting the deadline. The postponement can feel like an amnesty for those who did not prepare, with little incentive to catch up. Tax-adviser associations and other experts argue that repeated delays penalise those who complied and make the regulatory timetable seem negotiable.

4. Disquiet inside the Tax Agency

Some Tax Agency technicians and inspectors who worked for years on Verifactu’s technical design and public guidance reportedly expressed frustration and apologised to businesses and developers. Their concerns include inadequate notice to technical teams and staff unions, wasted effort in training and communication, and damage to the Agency’s technical credibility for future reforms. The fact that the postponement came through a decree law that also addressed transfers of powers to Catalonia has added to the political controversy.

5. An avoidable crisis or a chance to prepare?

Experts disagree. Critics say the storm has been postponed rather than avoided. Invoices are meant to be preserved in an unalterable record, so mistakes may require corrective invoices. The rules may be rigid for small businesses; penalties for non-compliant or altered software are high; and advisers and software providers could face a bottleneck if widespread implementation is left until 2026–2027. A delay may also encourage a “we’ll deal with it later” attitude.

Others see the extra time as an opportunity to modernise businesses that still rely on outdated invoicing. Planned digitalisation can improve internal controls, collections and business management. Approved software can reduce errors and filing problems; the Tax Agency’s free application may help the smallest businesses; and consistent records may reduce disputes about invoice validity. The outcome depends on whether these two years are used for preparation and support.

6. Technical points to keep in mind

• Verifactu is not simply about sending invoices to the Tax Agency: it regulates the computer system that generates invoicing records, whether sales are made in a shop or online.
• It affects nearly all businesses and professionals issuing invoices, subject to exceptions such as systems already connected through SII and the foral tax territories.
• Using non-compliant systems or deliberately altering them is a specific, serious offence subject to substantial penalties.
• The new timetable changes when the obligation applies, not the substance of the obligation.

7. Final assessment: understandable relief at a cost to credibility

The postponement has two sides. It avoids an immediate regulatory shock for many unprepared small businesses, creates room for training and support, and allows technical details to be refined. But it weakens confidence in legal certainty and official timetables, risks suggesting that early compliance is penalised while waiting brings another extension, and creates tension within the Tax Agency.

The delay can be good news if businesses use it to prepare seriously. If it simply extends inaction, the same problem will return in 2027 with more fatigue, distrust and public money already spent.

Read the original article in Spanish.