An invoice with a missing detail isn't just untidy. Your client may not be able to deduct the VAT, and you may have to issue it again. If you invoice from Spain, the rules are in the Invoicing Regulation, Royal Decree 1619/2012, and they apply equally to freelancers and companies.
What every invoice must show
Article 6 of the regulation lists what a full invoice must include:
- Number and, if you use them, the series. Numbers within each series must run in sequence.
- Date of issue.
- Full name or company name of both you and your client.
- Your tax ID (NIF). Your client's is also required in several cases, including when the transaction takes place in Spain and you're established here. In practice, if you invoice a Spanish business or freelancer, always include it.
- Address of both you and your client.
- Description of what you sell or do, with what's needed to work out the taxable base: unit price before tax and any discount not already in that price.
- VAT rate applied.
- VAT amount, shown separately.
- Date of the transaction, if it's different from the invoice date.
If one invoice mixes VAT rates, or exempt and non-exempt items, the base for each part is shown separately.
Special wording
Some cases require specific text on the invoice:
- Exempt transactions: a reference to the article of the Spanish VAT Act or the EU VAT Directive that exempts it, or a statement that it's exempt.
- Reverse charge (your client accounts for the VAT, not you): the words "inversión del sujeto pasivo".
- Cash accounting: if you're in that special scheme, "régimen especial del criterio de caja".
- Self-billing, when your client issues the invoice for you: "facturación por el destinatario".
Income tax withholding
If you're a professional and you invoice a company, or a freelancer paying you as part of their business, your client must withhold part of the fee and pay it to the Tax Agency. Under the Income Tax Act and Regulation:
- The general rate is 15% of the base.
- It's 7% in the year you start as a professional and the following two, as long as you had no professional activity in the year before you started. You have to tell your client.
Withholding doesn't change the VAT. It's worked out on the base and taken off the total due, which is why your invoice should show it.
Example: a professional's invoice
Example with made-up figures.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Website design (base) | €1,000.00 |
| VAT 21% | €210.00 |
| Income tax withheld 15% | −€150.00 |
| Total due | €1,060.00 |
Your client pays you €1,060 and pays the €150 to the Tax Agency on account of your income tax. You then subtract that €150 on your form 130 and your annual return.
When a simplified invoice is enough
A simplified invoice (the old "ticket") carries fewer details. Under article 4 of the regulation you can use one:
- when the amount is €400 or less, VAT included;
- in certain sectors, up to €3,000, VAT included: retail, hospitality and restaurants, passenger transport and hairdressing, among others.
If the client is a business or professional and asks, the simplified invoice must show their NIF, their address and the VAT amount separately. Without those, they can't deduct the VAT.
When to issue it
You issue the invoice when the transaction happens. If your client is a business or professional, you have until before the 16th of the following month after the VAT became due.
Numbering and series
You can run several series (one per shop, or one per type of work, say) if there's a reason for it. Within each series, numbers follow on with no gaps. Corrective invoices always go in a series of their own.
You can choose the currency, but the VAT has to be stated in euros.
When you get one wrong
An issued invoice is never deleted or edited. If it has a mistake, if the VAT was worked out wrong, or if the base changes later (a return, a discount, and in some cases an unpaid invoice), you issue a corrective invoice (factura rectificativa).
Issue it as soon as you know, and within four years of when the tax became due or the event that triggered it.
How long to keep them
Keep the invoices you receive and copies of those you issue for the period set by the General Tax Law.
And then there's Verifactu
On top of all this, the software you invoice with will have to meet Spain's invoicing-systems regulation: every invoice with its chained record and QR code. We explain it in What is Verifactu and when does it become mandatory.
How Factuly does it
In Factuly you pick the client, add the lines and issue. Factuly numbers each series with no gaps, and the PDF carries your details, your client's, the VAT on each line, withholding where it applies, and how to pay. Exempt items carry their exemption code.
Once issued, an invoice can't be edited: you cancel it and it keeps its number, or you correct it with an invoice in a corrective series and its reason. See Invoices. If you invoice from Spain, each one also leaves its record for the tax authority, as Verifactu in Factuly explains.
