B2B e-invoicing in Spain: how the system works
Independent, non-governmental site
Choose the date you receive, accept or pay an invoice: the calculator gives the last day to report it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays.
Report by
13 December 2027
4 calendar days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays (RD 238/2026, arts. 10 and 12).
| Start date | 4 December 2027 |
| Who reports | The recipient |
| Required data | Acceptance or rejection and date |
Example on the first mandate dates (October 2027). Self-employed people up to 8 million may report voluntarily in their first year (third transitional provision).
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · Rules read in the BOE and at the AEAT on 25 October 2026
The Spanish e-invoicing system created by Royal Decree 238/2026 has two channels that can be combined: private exchange platforms, which meet technical and security requirements, and the Tax Agency’s public solution, free of charge, which uses the UBL syntax and also acts as a repository for all invoices. If you have not agreed with your suppliers to receive through a platform, you are deemed to choose the public solution without doing anything. Anyone issuing through a private platform must sign the invoice with an advanced electronic signature and simultaneously send a faithful UBL copy to the public solution. Platforms must connect with each other free of charge within one month of a request. The customer tells the issuer whether each invoice is accepted or rejected and when it is paid in full, within 4 calendar days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays, and also reports the payment, with its date and the due date, to the public solution. If the customer does not reject an invoice, it is presumed accepted. Nobody can force a supplier to use a particular platform.
The parts of the system
| Part | What it does | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Private platform | Sends and receives signed invoices; must connect free with the others | RD 238/2026, arts. 7.3, 8, 9 and 13 |
| AEAT public solution | Issues and receives in UBL, stores every invoice, free | RD 238/2026, art. 11 |
| Faithful copy | UBL copy the platform sends to the public solution on issue | RD 238/2026, art. 6.2 |
| Entry point | Where you receive; if you publish none, the public solution | RD 238/2026, art. 6.3 |
| Unique code | Issuer tax ID, series and number, and issue date | RD 238/2026, art. 7.5 |
RD 238/2026 accepts four syntaxes, UBL (EN 16931), UN/CEFACT CII, EDIFACT, Facturae, all built on the European EN 16931 model. Platforms must be able to convert an invoice from one format to another, so issuer and recipient need not use the same one. The public solution works only in UBL, on the terms of Order HAC/1028/2026. Anyone receiving through a platform must publish their entry point in their communications and on their website, so suppliers know where to send.
Invoice status and payment
Article 10 requires the recipient to tell the issuer two things: commercial acceptance or rejection, with its date, and full payment, with its date. It may also report partial acceptance or payment and assignment of the invoice to a third party. Article 12 adds reporting of full payment, or rejection, to the public solution, together with the due date. The deadline is 4 calendar days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. A payment made on 4 December 2027 must be reported by 13 December 2027, because 6 December 2027 and 8 December 2027 are national holidays under the resolution on public holidays for 2027.
From when do these deadlines apply to you?
B2B e-invoicing mandatory from
B2B e-invoicing mandatory from
6 October 2028
| Report status and payment | Mandatory from 6 October 2029 |
| PDF alongside the invoice until | – |
| Accepted formats | UBL (EN 16931), UN/CEFACT CII, EDIFACT, Facturae |
| Free option | AEAT public solution |
What the supplier gains
The system is designed to fight late payment: with the date of each payment in the public solution, the Tax Agency will give the relevant ministries the information to monitor payment periods between businesses, as article 14 provides. The issuer may voluntarily report collection, non-payment or differences from the dates its customer reported, which gives suppliers a record they can rely on when chasing late payers. The mandate dates are in mandatory e-invoicing; the formats in Facturae or B2B e-invoice; signing in signing a Facturae file. Article 2 bis of Law 56/2007 sets out the basic rights of issuer and recipient.