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Practical Handbook VAT 2022

Invoicing obligations

The correct application of VAT requires the correct application of the invoicing rules, the importance of which is twofold:

  • In the area of the passing on of the tax, except in specific cases.

  • As regards the deduction of input or output VAT, the recipient of the transaction must be in possession of an invoice in order to be able to deduct VAT.

The obligation of entrepreneurs and professionals to invoice is set out in article 29.2.e) of Law 58/2003, of 17 December, General Tax Law, in article 164, section one, number 3 of the VAT Law and in the Regulations governing invoicing obligations approved by Royal Decree 1619/2012, of 30 November (BOE of 1 December).

This chapter focuses on the existing obligations under the general system, while chapters 6 and 7 detail the special invoicing requirements that apply to the special systems.Online invoicing is not regulated in articles 9 and 10 of the Regulation on Invoicing nor in Order EHA/962/2007 of 10 April developing certain provisions on online invoicing and electronic invoice storage.

  1. Duty to bill
  2. Invoices issued by third parties
  3. General content of ordinary invoices
  4. Simplified invoices
  5. Delivery times and invoicing
  6. Duty to preserve the invoices
  7. Billing documents as proof of deductions
  8. Rectification invoices