What is VeriFactu and how does it affect your invoices?

What is VeriFactu?

What is VeriFactu? It is the Spanish regulation that requires invoicing software to record every invoice as it is issued, chained to the previous one, with no way to delete it. In the system's VERI*FACTU mode, the software sends each record to Hacienda (the AEAT, Spain's tax agency). As of 12 October 2026, the legal date for the self-employed is 1 July 2027.

Behind the name sits a specific rule: Royal Decree 1007/2023, which approves the Regulation on the requirements for invoicing software systems (in Spanish, Reglamento de requisitos de los sistemas informáticos de facturación, which Hacienda shortens to RRSIF). "VeriFactu" comes from factura verificable (verifiable invoice) and is, strictly speaking, the name of one of the two ways to comply. In everyday use it stands for the whole system, and that is how we use it here.

Below you will find how it works under the hood, what changes on your invoices, who it applies to, which date counts and a worked example. If you are after an action plan for your own situation, see VeriFactu for the self-employed (in Spanish), and if you would like someone to issue your invoices for you, see how Melso invoicing works.

Where the VeriFactu regulation comes from

VeriFactu is the last link in a chain of rules:

1. Law 11/2021 on measures against tax fraud. It added letter j) of article 29.2 to the General Tax Law (Ley General Tributaria): anyone carrying on a business activity who uses accounting, invoicing or management software must use systems that ensure "the integrity, preservation, accessibility, legibility, traceability and unalterability of the records". The same law created the penalty in article 201 bis, covered further down.
2. Royal Decree 1007/2023. This is the VeriFactu regulation proper. It says who is required to comply, what the software must do and what data each record holds.
3. Order HAC/1177/2024. Order HAC/1177/2024 sets the technical details: record format, hash algorithm, QR code size and how the data is sent. It came into force on 29 October 2024.
4. Invoicing Regulation. Royal Decree 1619/2012 was amended to add the QR code and the VERI*FACTU label to invoices.

The AEAT (Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria) runs the system and receives the records.

The aim is to stamp out so-called dual-use software: programs that let you issue an invoice to the customer and then delete it or reduce it in the books, so as to declare fewer sales. With VeriFactu, every change leaves a trace.

How VeriFactu works, step by step

When you issue an invoice with adapted software, this is what happens:

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1. An issuance record is created

Article 9 of the regulation requires the software to generate a record "at the same time as, or immediately before, the issue of each invoice". You do not create it yourself: the software does it on its own.

Under article 10, that record includes, among other data, your NIF (tax ID) and name, the invoice number and series, the date, the invoice type, the total amount, the VAT breakdown and the date, hour, minute and second when it was generated.

2. The hash is calculated and chained

Each record carries a digital fingerprint, or hash: a code that summarises its contents. Order HAC/1177/2024 specifies the SHA-256 algorithm. The key point is that each record's hash includes the hash of the record before it. If someone changes an amount on a March invoice, its hash changes and the chain stops matching for every invoice that follows.

3. The invoice carries a QR code

The invoice includes a QR code with part of its contents. Article 21 of the order requires it to measure between 30x30 and 40x40 millimetres. What it allows depends on the mode: in VERIFACTU, whoever receives the invoice can scan it and check on the AEAT's website that the record was sent; in non-VERIFACTU, the recipient can report the invoice details to the AEAT, but the invoice is not verifiable. A structured e-invoice does not need the QR image: including its URL as a field is enough (article 20.2 of the order). If the software works in VERIFACTU mode, the invoice adds the wording "Factura verificable en la sede electrónica de la AEAT" (invoice verifiable on the AEAT's website) or simply "VERIFACTU", as set out in article 6 of the Invoicing Regulation for full invoices (article 7 does the same for simplified ones).

4. The record is sent to the AEAT (if you choose VERI*FACTU)

In VERI*FACTU mode, the software sends the records to the AEAT automatically. Article 16 of the technical order allows up to 1,000 records per submission and sets an initial waiting time of 60 seconds between submissions, which the AEAT can adjust. What travels is the invoicing record, not the invoice PDF.

5. If something needs correcting, another record is created

No record is ever deleted or rewritten. If the invoice has the kind of mistake that requires a correction, you issue a corrective invoice (factura rectificativa) with its own issuance record. If an invoice should never have been issued (for example, you issued it twice), article 11 of the regulation provides for a cancellation record, as long as neither a corrective invoice nor another procedure under the Invoicing Regulation applies. If the error is only in the record's data and not on the invoice, a correction record (a subsanación, in the AEAT's terms) is sent. Both rules are explained in section 17 of the AEAT's FAQs for developers. In every case the original record stays there, untouched.

VERIFACTU and non-VERIFACTU systems

The regulation lets you comply in two ways. Under its article 16, software that sends every record to the AEAT counts as a verifiable invoice issuing system, officially a "Sistema de emisión de facturas verificables" or "Sistema VERI*FACTU".

For a self-employed person, a VERI*FACTU system is almost always the simplest choice. The software does the work and you do not have to keep signed records or an event log. In exchange, Hacienda receives the records of your invoices in near real time.

How VeriFactu affects your invoices

On paper, little changes; what changes is how the software works behind the scenes.

The three types of invoice under VeriFactu

Under VeriFactu, the three main types all generate a record:

• Full (ordinary) invoice. The usual one, with the details required by article 6 of the Invoicing Regulation.
• Simplified invoice (the receipt, or ticket as it is usually called in Spain). Under article 4 of the Invoicing Regulation, it can be used, among other cases, when the amount is no more than 400 euros VAT included, when it is a corrective invoice, or up to 3,000 euros VAT included in certain sectors such as retail. Some transactions are excluded, such as intra-EU supplies of goods. The AEAT confirms in its FAQs that receipts issued with software are also covered by VeriFactu.
• Corrective invoice. The one that corrects another. Article 15 of the same regulation requires it, for example, when the original does not meet some requirement or the VAT was calculated wrongly.

What "invoice verification" means

In VERIFACTU mode, the customer scans the QR code and the AEAT's website tells them whether it holds the record for that invoice. In non-VERIFACTU mode, the answer "Factura no verificable" (invoice not verifiable) is normal and does not mean non-compliance, as the AEAT's FAQs on the QR code explain. Only if the invoice carries the VERI*FACTU label and, after a while, the check cannot find the record is it worth asking the supplier.

And if your gestoría issues your invoices

You can ask a third party, such as a gestoría (tax and accounting firm), to issue your invoices. According to the AEAT's FAQs, if that third party uses an invoicing system, it is the one that generates the records when issuing them. But delegating does not let you off the hook: the obligation to invoice is still yours, so it is worth confirming that their software complies.

Worked example: a day of invoicing under VeriFactu

Javier repairs computers in Seville. He mostly invoices private customers at his workshop and a few local businesses. He uses software in VERI*FACTU mode. To keep things simple, the example leaves out IRPF (income tax) withholding. He charges the standard 21% VAT (article 90 of Law 37/1992).

Step 1. A receipt in the morning. A private customer pays for a cleaning and a thermal paste replacement on their computer. As it comes to less than 400 euros, Javier issues a simplified invoice, T-2026-118:

The software creates the issuance record, calculates its hash using the last record from the day before and sends it to the AEAT. The receipt comes out with a QR code and the word "VERI*FACTU".

Step 2. A full invoice for a language school. Javier sets up five computers for a language school. He issues F-2026-045:

A new record, chained to the receipt's.

Step 3. A mistake in the NIF. The school gets in touch: one digit of its NIF is wrong. Correcting the recipient's NIF already required a corrective invoice before VeriFactu (article 15 of the Invoicing Regulation); what is new is that the software will not let him edit F-2026-045 and records the correction instead. He issues a corrective invoice, R-2026-004, which replaces the original with the right NIF, identifies F-2026-045 as the invoice it corrects and keeps its transaction date. The amounts do not change, but there is now a third record pointing to the corrected invoice.

Step 4. A duplicate invoice. In the afternoon, Javier checks the terminals at a clothes shop and invoices a taxable base of 120.00 euros. By mistake he issues the same invoice twice, F-2026-046 and F-2026-047. The second should never have existed and a corrective invoice does not apply, so the software generates a cancellation record for F-2026-047. F-2026-046 stands and F-2026-047 is cancelled, so the shop's VAT is only charged once:

This is the day's chain (hashes shortened and made up):

What it means for the quarter's VAT. From these transactions, Javier will declare as output VAT (the VAT he charges his customers) 10.50 euros from the receipt, 63.00 euros from the language school and 25.20 euros from the shop: 98.70 euros in total, on a taxable base of 470.00 euros. Corrective invoice R-2026-004 adds nothing, because it only changes the NIF, and the cancelled F-2026-047 does not count. The records sent match what he will declare.

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Who VeriFactu applies to and when it becomes mandatory

The AEAT sums up who is required to comply with its "rule of the 4 NOs" in its FAQs. It applies to you if:

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1. You do not invoice only by hand. If you use an invoicing software system (SIF) as defined in the regulation, you are in. A Word or Excel file used only to type, print and save invoices does not count, according to the same AEAT page.

2. You are not on the SII (Suministro Inmediato de Información, Immediate Supply of Information), which sends the VAT books in near real time. According to the AEAT, it is mandatory for:

   • large companies;
   • VAT groups;
   • businesses on the REDEME (the register for monthly VAT refunds);
   • certain holders of tax warehouses for fuels and those who take those fuels out of the warehouses.

   For everyone else it is voluntary.

3. You are not taxed under the foral rules of the Basque Country or Navarre. In the Basque Country, TicketBAI applies, under the rules of each provincial council (diputación).

4. You do not have an AEAT resolution exempting you.

The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are included, with IGIC or IPSI instead of VAT.

When it comes to the date, it pays to separate what is confirmed from what has only been announced:

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The Ministry of Finance's note says it will proceed with "postponing the obligations of Royal Decree 1007/2023 still pending application [...] until October 2028", to make them coincide with e-invoicing for businesses and professionals "whose annual turnover does not exceed 8 million euros". It also warns that the integrity, preservation, traceability and unalterability requirements will be kept "in substantially equivalent terms".

The delay will only take effect when the rule changing the deadlines in Royal Decree 1007/2023 comes into force, which could be a royal decree or a royal decree-law, as already happened with Royal Decree-law 15/2025. Until then, the fourth final provision of the consolidated text of the regulation applies, in the wording given to it by that royal decree-law. Do not confuse it with Order HAC/1028/2026, published in the BOE on that same 5 October: that order is in force, but it regulates e-invoicing between businesses, not VeriFactu. You will find every date and its history in when does VeriFactu start.

If you want to get started now without paying, the AEAT offers a free invoicing app in VERI*FACTU mode, with no limit on invoices. Be aware, according to that same AEAT page: it does not issue receipts, allows only one recipient per invoice and does not let you export the records to other software.

What happens if you do not comply

Article 201 bis of the General Tax Law sets out the offences, all of them serious:

For you, as a user, the obligation starts on the date that applies to you.

VeriFactu, TicketBAI, SII and e-invoicing: the differences

These are four things that often get mixed up:

Royal Decree 238/2026 sets the scope and exceptions (articles 3 and 4) and the deadlines (fourth final provision): 12 months from the ministerial order coming into force for anyone whose turnover (calculated under article 121 of the VAT Law) exceeded 8 million euros in the previous calendar year, and 24 months for everyone else. That order is Order HAC/1028/2026, published in the BOE on 5 October 2026 and in force since the following day. The resulting dates, 6 October 2027 and 6 October 2028, are confirmed by the AEAT. It is all explained in mandatory e-invoicing.

Common mistakes

• Thinking VeriFactu forces you to send e-invoices. It does not. You can still send a PDF or a paper invoice. The software changes, not the channel.
• Assuming it is already October 2028. That is a Hacienda announcement. Until it appears in the BOE, the legal date for the self-employed is 1 July 2027.
• Working from old dates. The original text set July 2025, and Royal Decree 254/2025 moved it to January and July 2026. Royal Decree-law 15/2025 pushed those dates back a year.
• Deleting an invoice you got wrong. Under VeriFactu you correct it with a corrective invoice or, if it should never have existed and a corrective invoice does not apply, with a cancellation record. The original record never disappears.

How Melso helps

Melso is your AI tax agent, with human professionals behind it: an online gestoría (tax and accounting firm) for the self-employed that works with you over WhatsApp. Melso issues your invoices only with your approval (see how in invoicing). The returns included for your activity and tax profile are prepared and reviewed by Melso and its professionals, you approve the exact draft in the app and, with the necessary authorisation, the professional files the approved version with the AEAT. See the plans on pricing and get started at melso.ai or tap Message us on WhatsApp.

This article is for information only and does not replace professional advice for your case. Last reviewed: 12 October 2026.