On the 29th of September 2022, the Spanish project “Crea y Crece” (Creation and Growth) was officially published in Boletín Oficial del Estado (Official State Gazette). The official publication details how business-to-business (B2B) electronic invoicing in Spain will soon become a reality for many businesses.
According to law 18/2022 from the 28th of September, all businesses must have the ability to create, send and receive electronic invoices (e-invoices). Each business must have a solution in place and be able to provide the Spanish government particular information on each invoice’s status.
Additionally, the law is setting up the technical requirements, solutions and platforms that will guarantee e-invoicing interoperability with other solutions on the market.
Source Unifiedpost.com
Extract of the law 18/2022 (Unofficial translation)
Source Boe.es
Article 12. Modification of Law 56/2007, of December 28, on Measures to Promote the Information Society.
Article 2 bis of Law 56/2007, of December 28, on Measures to Promote the Information Society, is modified, which is worded as follows:
«Article 2 bis. Electronic invoice in the private sector.
For the purposes of the provisions of this law:
- All businessmen and professionals must issue, send and receive electronic invoices in their business relationships with other businessmen and professionals. The recipient and the issuer of electronic invoices must provide information on the status of the invoice.
- The technological solutions and platforms offered by companies that provide electronic invoicing services to entrepreneurs and professionals must guarantee their free interconnection and interoperability. In the same way, the electronic invoicing solutions and platforms of the issuing and receiving companies must meet the same free interconnection and interoperability criteria with the rest of the electronic invoicing solutions.
- During a period of four years from the issuance of electronic invoices, recipients may request a copy of the same without incurring additional costs.
3a. The recipient of the invoice may not force its issuer to use a predetermined electronic invoicing solution, platform or service provider.
- The companies providing the services referred to in article 2.2 must issue and send electronic invoices in their dealings with individuals who agree to receive them or who have expressly requested them. This duty is independent of the size of your workforce or your annual trading volume.
However, travel agencies, transport services and retail trade activities are only required to issue electronic invoices under the terms provided in the preceding paragraph when the contracting has been carried out by electronic means.
- The Government may extend the scope of application of the provisions of section 4 to companies or entities that do not provide the general public with services of special economic importance in cases where it is considered that they should have a telematic dialogue with their clients or users, due to the nature of the services they provide, and issue a large number of invoices.
- Electronic invoices must comply, in any case, with the provisions of the specific regulations on invoicing.
Likewise, computer or electronic systems and programs that manage billing processes and keep electronic invoices must respect the requirements referred to in article 29.2.j) of Law 58/2003, of December 17, General Tax , and its regulatory development.
- The companies providing the services referred to in section 4 must provide access to the necessary programs so that users can read, copy, download and print the electronic invoice for free without having to go to other sources to obtain the applications. necessary for it.
They must enable simple and free procedures so that users can revoke the consent given to the receipt of electronic invoices at any time.
- The period during which the client can consult his invoices by electronic means established in article 2.1.b) is not altered because he has terminated his contract with the company or revoked his consent to receive electronic invoices. Nor does your right to access previously issued invoices expire for this reason.
- Companies that, being obliged to do so, do not offer users the possibility of receiving electronic invoices or do not allow people who have ceased to be clients to access their invoices, will be sanctioned with a warning or a fine of up to 10,000 euros. The sanction will be determined and graduated in accordance with the criteria established in article 19.2 of Law 6/2020, of November 11, regulating certain aspects of electronic trust services. The same sanction may be imposed on companies that provide services to the general public of special economic significance that do not comply with the other obligations set forth in article 2.1. The head of the Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence is competent to impose this sanction.
- The procedure for accreditation of the interconnection and interoperability of the platforms will be determined by regulation.»
