Spain Verifactu Readiness Checklist: Preparing for the 2027 Deadlines
Spain's Verifactu invoice verification system is now due 1 January 2027 (companies) and 1 July 2027 (self-employed) after a one-year postponement. Here is a practical readiness checklist for Spanish businesses using invoicing software.
Correction notice (6 August 2026): An earlier version of this article treated 1 July 2026 as Verifactu's go-live date. Real Decreto-ley 15/2025 postponed Verifactu by one year before that date arrived — the current mandatory dates are 1 January 2027 for companies and 1 July 2027 for the self-employed and other businesses. This checklist has been updated accordingly; there is no July 2026 deadline to prepare for.
What Verifactu Actually Requires (Quick Recap)
Verifactu is not a full e-invoice mandate — it is an anti-fraud invoice verification layer. From your applicable 2027 deadline, every invoice your software generates must:
- Contain a QR code linking to the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT) verification portal
- Carry a hash derived from the invoice data and the previous invoice's hash (creating a tamper-evident chain)
- Be submitted to AEAT in near-real-time
- Be immutable — once issued, changes require a linked credit note (factura rectificativa)
The invoice itself can still be a PDF. Verifactu does not mandate a specific XML format for the invoice document — only for the AEAT submission layer.
Readiness Checklist
✅ Check 1: Confirm Your Deadline
- Companies (Impuesto sobre Sociedades): 1 January 2027
- Self-employed (autónomos) and other businesses: 1 July 2027
✅ Check 2: Is Your Software on Track for Certification?
AEAT maintains a registry of VERI*FACTU certified software at sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es. Ask your accounting or invoicing vendor directly whether — and when — their platform will appear on that list; do not assume certification without checking.
✅ Check 3: Plan to Test the QR Code and Hash Chain
Once your vendor ships a Verifactu-compliant version, run test invoices and verify:
- The QR code resolves correctly to the AEAT portal when scanned
- The AEAT API accepts the submission
- Each invoice's hash correctly references the previous invoice (chain integrity)
✅ Check 4: Understand the Correction Procedure
Under Verifactu, you cannot edit an issued invoice. Instead: 1. Issue a factura rectificativa (credit note) referencing the incorrect invoice's hash and AEAT number 2. Issue a new corrected invoice 3. Both documents are submitted to AEAT
This is different from the PDF-edit-and-reissue practice many Spanish businesses currently use — worth walking your finance team through before the deadline, not after.
What Verifactu Does NOT Cover
- The full B2B structured e-invoicing mandate under the Crea y Crece law is a separate track, now dated by Royal Decree 238/2026 at 1 October 2027 (turnover above €8 million) and 1 October 2028 (everyone else)
- Cross-border invoices to non-Spanish customers are not subject to Verifactu
Source
Real Decreto-ley 15/2025, of 2 December (BOE, 3 December 2025); Agencia Tributaria Verifactu guidance: agenciatributaria.es.
