Spain passes legislation moving towards mandatory B2B e-invoicing

6 January 2022

The Spanish government has approved VAT law that includes a requirement for businesses to issue electronic invoices for all business-to-business (B2B) transactions.

Currently, the Spanish tax authority receives transactional information from certain taxpayers through the Suministro Inmediato de Información (SII). However, this platform only applies to large enterprises with an annual turnover of over €6 million, and companies affected are only required to upload invoices to the tax authorities within four working days from the issue or receipt of an invoice. 

By moving to compulsory e-invoicing over SII, it would mean a wider set of taxpayers would be required to validate their B2B invoices on a more frequent basis before issuing these to their clients. It is hoped that this will then further prevent common errors on these types of invoices and will help prevent VAT fraud in the country.

Spain joins a growing list of EU countries, including Italy, Hungary, Poland, France, Romania, and Slovakia, which have or will introduce e-invoices soon.