E-Invoicing in Spain 2027-2028: Complete Guide to Verifactu and the Crea y Crece B2B Mandate
Spain e-invoicing explained: the live FACe B2G mandate, Verifactu's postponed 2027 deadlines, and the Crea y Crece B2B mandate dated by Royal Decree 238/2026 at October 2027/2028.
E-Invoicing in Spain 2027-2028: Complete Guide to Verifactu and the Crea y Crece B2B Mandate
Spain's e-invoicing landscape is unusually easy to get confused about, because there are genuinely two separate mandates running on overlapping timelines, plus a B2G system that has been live for over a decade. This guide separates the three tracks clearly and gives you the current, verified dates for each.
The Three Tracks, in One Table
| Track | What it requires | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| FACe (B2G) | Structured Facturae invoices to public administrations | Suppliers to Spanish public bodies | Live since 2015 |
| Verifactu | Certified invoicing software with QR codes, hash chains, near-real-time AEAT reporting | Businesses using invoicing software | 1 Jan 2027 (companies) / 1 Jul 2027 (self-employed) |
| Crea y Crece B2B mandate | Structured e-invoice exchange between Spanish businesses | All VAT-registered businesses | 1 Oct 2027 (turnover >€8M) / 1 Oct 2028 (everyone else) |
If you only remember one thing from this guide, remember this: Verifactu is not the B2B e-invoicing mandate. It's an anti-fraud certification layer for invoicing software. The actual requirement to exchange structured invoices with other businesses is a separate law with its own, later dates.
Track 1: FACe — B2G E-Invoicing (Live Since 2015)
Under Ley 25/2013, suppliers to Spanish public administrations must submit invoices in the Facturae XML format through the FACe platform (Punto General de Entrada de Facturas Electrónicas). This has been mandatory since 15 January 2015 and is unaffected by any of the more recent B2B developments below.
Track 2: Verifactu — Postponed to 2027
Verifactu (formally the Reglamento de los Sistemas Informáticos de Facturación, or SIF regulation) requires invoicing software — not necessarily the invoice document itself — to:
- Generate a tamper-evident hash chain, where each invoice's hash incorporates the previous invoice's hash
- Produce a QR code on every invoice linking to an AEAT verification page
- Submit invoice data to AEAT in near-real-time
- Make issued invoices immutable (corrections require a linked credit note, or factura rectificativa)
The dates changed in December 2025. The original plan set Verifactu's mandatory dates at 1 January 2026 (companies subject to Corporate Income Tax) and 1 July 2026 (the self-employed and other businesses). On 2 December 2025, the Spanish government approved Real Decreto-ley 15/2025 (published in the BOE on 3 December 2025), postponing both by exactly one year:
- 1 January 2027: companies subject to Impuesto sobre Sociedades
- 1 July 2027: self-employed (autónomos) and other businesses
If you've seen articles — including older ones — citing a July 2026 Verifactu deadline, that date no longer applies.
Track 3: The Crea y Crece B2B Mandate — Dated by Royal Decree 238/2026
The actual requirement to exchange structured B2B invoices between Spanish businesses comes from Ley 18/2022 ("Crea y Crece"), but for years it had no confirmed date. That changed on 24 March 2026, when the Council of Ministers approved Royal Decree 238/2026 (published in the BOE on 31 March 2026), giving the mandate concrete dates for the first time.
The Royal Decree sets the legal framework; the technical detail is left to a Ministerial Order, whose draft went to public consultation from 17 April to 8 May 2026.
Confirmed Timeline
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 October 2026 | Ministerial Order takes effect; deadlines below count from this date |
| 1 October 2027 | Mandatory for businesses with turnover above €8 million |
| 1 October 2028 | Mandatory for all remaining VAT-registered businesses, SMEs, and autónomos |
| 1 October 2029 | Payment status reporting obligations extend to smaller entities |
Accepted Formats
Spain's B2B system accepts four invoice syntaxes: UBL (mandatory for the public AEAT platform), plus CII, EDIFACT, and the national Facturae format for private platforms. Businesses can route invoices either through the free public AEAT solution or through an accredited private platform — a structure closer to France's public-portal/approved-platform split than to Italy's single clearing-house model.
Why the Verifactu and B2B Dates Now Sit So Close Together
Because Verifactu was postponed a year and the B2B mandate only got dates in March 2026, the two tracks now land close to each other for large businesses: Verifactu's company deadline (1 January 2027) falls about nine months before the B2B mandate's first phase (1 October 2027). Many mid-to-large Spanish businesses will effectively be implementing both in the same 12-month window — worth factoring into vendor and budget planning rather than treating them as sequential, unrelated projects.
What Spanish Businesses Should Do Now
- Confirm which Verifactu deadline applies to you — company vs. self-employed status determines whether you have until January or July 2027.
- If your turnover is above €8 million, start evaluating B2B e-invoicing vendors now — 1 October 2027 gives less runway than it looks like once you account for testing and trading-partner onboarding.
- Ask your accounting software vendor directly whether and when they expect Verifactu certification and B2B mandate support — don't assume compliance without checking, since certification timelines vary by vendor.
- Don't confuse the two mandates when reading vendor marketing — "Verifactu certified" is not the same claim as "Crea y Crece B2B compliant."
See our Spain software comparison and Facturae vs UBL format guide for the practical next steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Verifactu mandatory in 2026? A: No. The original 2026 dates were postponed by one year under Real Decreto-ley 15/2025. Current dates are January 2027 (companies) and July 2027 (self-employed).
Q: Does becoming Verifactu-compliant also satisfy the B2B e-invoicing mandate? A: No. Verifactu certifies your invoicing software's anti-fraud features; it does not require you to exchange structured invoices with trading partners. That's a separate obligation under Royal Decree 238/2026.
Q: What format does Spain's B2B mandate use? A: UBL is mandatory for the public AEAT platform. CII, EDIFACT, and Facturae are also accepted, primarily via accredited private platforms.
Q: Is B2G e-invoicing via FACe affected by any of this? A: No. FACe and the Facturae format for public-sector invoicing have been mandatory since 2015 and continue unchanged.
Last updated: August 2026. We track official sources (BOE, Agencia Tributaria, European Commission) and correct this guide whenever mandate dates change — as they did for Verifactu in December 2025.