VeriFactu is coming in 2027 — why 2026 is the year to get your invoicing ready

If you invoice clients in Spain, the way you issue those invoices is about to change in a way you cannot opt out of. VeriFactu — Spain's certified invoicing framework — requires every business and self-employed professional to issue invoices through software that meets strict technical rules: every record traceable, every alteration logged, every invoice carrying a QR code that links it to the tax agency.

The deadlines moved. In December 2025 the Government approved a one-year postponement, so the obligation now lands on 1 January 2027 for companies subject to Corporate Income Tax and on 1 July 2027 for the self-employed and everyone else. If you read headlines in 2025 saying "mandatory in 2026", they are out of date.

A year's grace sounds like a long time. It is not — and businesses that treat 2026 as the preparation year will cross into 2027 without noticing the change. Those that wait will be choosing software, rebuilding invoice series and retraining staff in a December rush. This article explains what is actually required, who it applies to here in the Canary Islands, and what a sensible 2026 looks like.

What VeriFactu actually is

VeriFactu comes from Royal Decree 1007/2023, the regulation on invoicing software systems (often called the RRSIF). It does not change what an invoice is; it changes how the record behind it is created and kept. Certified software must:

• generate an unalterable record for every invoice, chained to the previous one, so nothing can be deleted or rewritten without leaving a trace;
• print a QR code on every invoice, which lets any recipient — or the tax inspector — check the invoice against the system;
• either transmit each invoice record to the tax agency in real time (the "VERI*FACTU" mode that gives the system its name) or keep signed, sealed records available on demand.

Real-time submission is voluntary; the certified software is not. Word templates, spreadsheets and home-grown invoicing scripts that allow silent edits will simply be illegal to invoice with. The law backs this with serious penalties — using non-compliant invoicing software is an infraction in its own right, with fines that can reach 50,000 euros per year, separate from any tax owed.

"Does this apply in the Canary Islands?"

Yes. This is the question we hear most in Fuerteventura, and the confusion is understandable: the islands have their own indirect tax (IGIC instead of VAT) and their own tax agency for it. But VeriFactu is a state-level obligation attached to income tax — Corporate Income Tax and IRPF — not to VAT. Operating under IGIC does not exempt you.

The genuine exemptions are narrow: businesses already reporting through the SII (the real-time VAT books regime for large companies, in the Canaries the supply of records to the ATC), and taxpayers under the foral systems of the Basque Country and Navarre, which run their own equivalent (TicketBAI). If you are a normal company, shop, restaurant, professional or landlord issuing invoices from the Canary Islands, plan on complying.

The calendar, precisely

• 1 January 2027 — companies subject to Corporate Income Tax.
• 1 July 2027 — self-employed workers (autónomos) and all other obligated taxpayers.

Both dates come from Royal Decree-Law 15/2025, which amended the original 2026 deadlines. One practical nuance: software vendors have been required to sell only compliant systems for some time, so if you buy or renew an invoicing package in 2026, it should already be VeriFactu-ready — ask for the declaration of conformity in writing.

Why 2026 is the year that matters

Adapting is not just installing an update. In our experience preparing businesses for it, the work splits into four blocks:

1. Choose where your invoices will live. Many small businesses in the islands still invoice from Word or Excel. That ends. The decision — a standalone certified package, your gestoría's platform, or a module in the software you already use — deserves a calm comparison, not a December purchase.

2. Clean up your invoice series. Chained records expose gaps and duplicates immediately. If your numbering has ever been "flexible", 2026 is the year to fix the habit, close old series properly and start clean.

3. Rethink the workflow around the invoice. Corrections work differently when records are unalterable: you issue rectifying invoices instead of quietly editing. Staff who invoice need to understand this before the first mistake happens under the new regime, not after.

4. Decide on the voluntary real-time mode. Sending records to the tax agency as you issue them means fewer records to keep, a public "verifiable invoice" status your clients can check, and — in practice — a lighter audit profile. For most compliant businesses we lean towards it, but it is a case-by-case call.

What we recommend doing this quarter

Ask three questions of your current setup: Is my invoicing software certified, and will the vendor confirm it in writing? Do I have invoice series or habits that will not survive chained records? Who in my business actually issues invoices, and do they know what changes? If any answer is shaky, that is the work — and done in 2026, it is a small project rather than a crisis.

Our tax advisory and accounting teams are already migrating clients across Fuerteventura onto compliant systems, series cleanup included. If you want your invoicing VeriFactu-ready with time to spare, book a consultation — we reply within one business day.

Common questions

I only issue a few invoices a year. Am I exempt?
No. There is no minimum-volume exemption. If you are obliged to issue invoices under Spanish rules, the software requirements apply to you from your deadline — July 2027 for most self-employed professionals.

I invoice through my gestoría. Do I need to do anything?
Confirm with them — in writing — that the platform they use is certified and that your invoice series will migrate cleanly. If they issue on your behalf, their software is your compliance.

Is VeriFactu the same as mandatory electronic invoicing between businesses?
No. B2B e-invoicing under the "Crea y Crece" law is a separate obligation with its own calendar — now regulated by Royal Decree 238/2026, it is expected to bind large companies from October 2027 and everyone else a year later, once the final ministerial order lands. VeriFactu is about how invoice records are created and kept, whatever format the invoice takes.

Facts and deadlines verified in August 2026 (RD 1007/2023, RDL 15/2025). Rules evolve — before acting, check the current position or ask us.