Published on September 1, 2026 · Updated on October 15, 2026 · The mitza.es team
It's common to run into businesses that assume VeriFactu and B2B e-invoicing are the same obligation, simply because both involve invoicing and both have been on advisors' and accountants' lips for months. They're not. They're two independent regulations, with different goals and their own timelines, and it's worth keeping them straight because both will affect nearly every SME and freelancer in Spain over the next few years.
What Ley Crea y Crece actually requires
Spain's 2022 Ley Crea y Crece introduced the obligation to use electronic invoicing between companies and self-employed professionals (B2B). What had been pending for years was its technical implementation: in March 2026, Real Decreto 238/2026 was published, spelling out how that obligation must apply in practice. The rule requires invoices exchanged between businesses and freelancers to use structured, machine-readable electronic formats, based on the European EN 16931 model and one of these four syntaxes: Facturae, EDIFACT, UBL or CII. A plain PDF attached to an email is no longer enough as the only invoice format; the stated goal is interoperability between private invoicing platforms and the public solution of the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT).
There is a transition period for companies with more than €8 million: during the first 12 months they must accompany the electronic invoice with a readable PDF, unless the recipient agrees to receive only the electronic format. That PDF is sent to the recipient, not to the AEAT public solution.
The official calendar: the countdown has already started
RD 238/2026 sets out a staggered rollout depending on each company's volume of operations, but the countdown didn't depend on its own publication: it depended on the ministerial order regulating the public e-invoicing solution. That order now exists: it is the Orden HAC/1028/2026, of October 2, published in the BOE (Spain's Official State Gazette) number 247 of October 5, 2026 and in force since October 6. From that date the 12- and 24-month deadlines run, which according to Garrigues and FinReg360 translate into:
- October 6, 2027: businesses and professionals with a volume of operations above €8 million in the previous calendar year.
- October 6, 2028: everyone else, that is, SMEs, freelancers and sole proprietors.
The order itself adds that the AEAT public solution must be available at least two months before the first effective application, that is, before August 6, 2027. And individuals and income-attribution entities with a volume of up to €8 million get one more year, until October 6, 2029, before reporting invoice statuses and payments becomes mandatory; until then it is voluntary.
Which invoices are covered and which aren't
- Invoices between businesses or professionals established, with a permanent establishment or domiciled in Spain are covered.
- Sales to final consumers (B2C) are out of scope: they aren't part of this obligation.
- Simplified invoices are generally excluded, except for the qualified simplified invoices of article 7.2 of the Reglamento de facturación (Invoicing Regulation).
- The RD also excludes some specific sector operations, such as those of the electricity market operator.
The AEAT public solution uses the UBL syntax, and invoices issued through private platforms must also be reflected in it through a faithful copy.
How this differs from VeriFactu
The confusion with VeriFactu is understandable but avoidable. VeriFactu, part of the Ley Antifraude (Anti-Fraud Law) and already delayed to 2027, as we explain in detail here, regulates how your invoicing software must behave toward the tax authority: records can't be manipulated, hidden or duplicated. B2B e-invoicing under Ley Crea y Crece regulates something different: the format in which one company sends an invoice to another, so it's structured and interoperable instead of a standalone PDF. These are parallel obligations, each with its own timeline, and you'll need to comply with both.
There is one development worth following: Hacienda, Spain's tax authority, has announced that it plans to delay VeriFactu to October 2028 so that it coincides with e-invoicing. As of October 15, 2026 this hasn't been approved or published in the BOE, so VeriFactu's legal dates remain January 1 and July 1, 2027.
What you can do right now
With the calendar now set, the 12- and 24-month windows are short if you need to change software or renegotiate processes with suppliers and clients. It's worth reviewing several fronts:
- Check whether your invoicing software or accountant already supports, or plans to support, Facturae, EDIFACT, UBL or CII.
- Find out whether your provider will be able to send the AEAT the faithful copies the system requires, and how it will handle rejection, due-date and payment notices.
- Work out your volume of operations for the previous calendar year to know which of the two dates, 2027 or 2028, applies to you.
- Use this margin to get other pending digital obligations in order too, such as mandatory digital time tracking or the deadlines of Kit Digital 2026.
If you want a review of how ready your website and digital systems are before the calendar kicks in, you can request an audit from us and work with breathing room instead of a last-minute scramble.
See every deadline in our digital compliance calendar for SMEs and freelancers.
Related reading: payee verification and IBAN change fraud.