VeriFactu: Spain's new tax control system

In Spain, businesses are facing a new compliance challenge with the introduction of VeriFactu.
Deriving from the 2021 anti-fraud law and specified by Royal Decree 1007/2023 and Ministerial Order HAC/1177/2024, VeriFactu aims to make invoices more traceable and transparent in order to combat tax fraud more effectively.

As a Sage business partner, Deveho Consulting Group supports companies in this transition by offering solutions such as Sage X3 2025R1, which are designed to meet the new requirements.

What is Verifactu?

VeriFactu is an advanced invoice verification system that requires certified invoicing software to ensure that each invoice is authentic, traceable and unalterable.

In practice, each issued or modified invoice automatically generates a record that can be:

• Transmitted in real time to the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT), or
• Stored in an unalterable form for possible presentation at the AEAT’s request.

The objective is clear: to prevent invoice manipulation and enhance tax control.

Implementation schedule:

The transition will take place in several stages:

• From 28 July 2025, only certified software will be available for sale.
• From 1 January 2026, companies and consulting firms will be required to use it.
• From 1 July 2026, this obligation will be extended to self-employed workers.

Please note that taxpayers who already use the immediate information system (SII) are generally exempt from this obligation.

How can you ensure compliance with VeriFactu?

In order to comply with the regulations, certified invoicing software must incorporate the following requirements:

• Digital certification: authentication via the SIF supplier’s electronic certificate.
• Inalterability: once issued, it must be impossible to modify or delete an invoice without creating a new time-stamped record.
• A mandatory QR code to allow the recipient to verify or transmit the data to the AEAT.
• A digital fingerprint (hash): each record is irreversibly linked to ensure traceability.
• Real-time transmission: automatic sending of records, unlike traditional electronic invoicing.

The roles of the parties involved

• Issuer: The entity that issues the invoice and, if it is a VeriFactu member, transmits the records to the AEAT. Invoices must include the words 'Invoice verifiable on the AEAT website’ or 'VERI*FACTU’.
• Recipient: Receives the invoice and can send the information contained in the QR code to the AEAT for validation if they wish.

The advantages of VeriFactu

• Real-time access to an invoicing database for the AEAT.
• Increased transparency and reduced fraud.
• Simplified tax inspections.
• Fewer technical requirements for companies that choose to join.
• Increased customer confidence thanks to the verifiable QR code.
• A key step in the digitalisation of SMEs and the self-employed.
• The potential to reduce certain formal obligations in the future, as was the case with the SII.

How Deveho Consulting Group can support you

Compliance with VeriFactu can be complex. As a Sage business partner, Deveho Consulting Group offers its expertise and tailored solutions such as Sage X3 2025R1.

Our solution enables businesses to:

• Secure their invoicing processes.
• Ensure regulatory compliance.
• Look ahead with confidence to the future of digital tax administration in Spain.

Electronic invoicing vs VeriFactu

Spain is currently undergoing a major transformation, with new regulations being introduced to strengthen tax control and combat fraud. Two systems are at the forefront of this change: electronic invoicing and VeriFactu. Although these systems are related, they have different objectives and requirements.

Electronic invoicing

Electronic invoicing involves creating, sending and storing invoices in a digital format.

The main purpose of electronic invoicing is to simplify administrative processes, reduce costs and improve efficiency.

👉 It also offers a degree of flexibility, as an electronic invoice can be modified using the issuing software if regulations allow.

Read our dedicated article to find out more about the electronic invoicing system in Spain and Europe:

https://deveho.com/newsroom/e-invoicing-in-europe/

VeriFactu

VeriFactu offers more than just digitisation. It is a verifiable invoicing system designed to ensure tax compliance.

Its key features include:

• automatic transmission of records to the AEAT (Spanish Tax Agency) in real or near-real time;
• invoices cannot be modified or cancelled once issued,
• full traceability thanks to QR codes and digital hashing.

👉 In summary, while electronic invoicing primarily aims to digitise and streamline transactions, VeriFactu adds an extra layer of control and fiscal transparency, thereby enhancing the reliability of the data communicated to the administration.

Conclusion

VeriFactu represents another step for Spain towards achieving a more transparent and digitised tax administration system.

Although this system represents a technical challenge for businesses and self-employed workers, it also presents an opportunity to build trust, modernise processes and anticipate audits.

Thanks to the expertise of partners such as Deveho Consulting Group and solutions such as Sage X3 2025R1, the transition can be smooth and secure.

Adopting VeriFactu is not just a regulatory requirement, but also a strategic step towards the future of invoicing.