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Practical Handbook VAT 2022

Duty to preserve the invoices

Entrepreneurs and professionals must keep the following documents for the period stipulated in Law 58/2003 of 17 December 2003 on General Taxation:

  1. Invoices received.

  2. Copies or matrices of invoices issued in accordance with sections 1 and 2 of article 2 of the Regulation governing invoicing obligations, approved by Royal Decree 1619/2012, of 30 November.

  3. The accounting supporting documents referred to in number 4 of section one of Article 97 of the Tax Law.

  4. Receipts justifying the reimbursement of compensation under the special scheme for agriculture, livestock and fisheries, both the original receipt from the issuer and the copy from the holder of the holding.

  5. The documents proving payment of the Import Tax.

This obligation is also incumbent on traders or professionals covered by the special regimes of VAT, as well as those who, without being traders or professionals, are taxable persons, although in this case it will only apply to the accounting supporting documents referred to in point c) above and to the invoices received.

Such documents must be kept in such a way as to ensure that the tax administration has access to them without delay, unless there are duly justified reasons.In particular, this obligation can be fulfilled through the use of electronic means.

Storage by electronic means must be carried out in such a way as to ensure their legibility in the original format in which they were received or transmitted, as well as, where appropriate, that of the associated data and signature verification mechanisms or other authorised elements that guarantee the authenticity of their origin and the integrity of their content.

The place where the invoicing documents are kept is irrelevant, unless they are kept outside Spain, in which case the obligation will be considered to have been fulfilled only if this is done by electronic means that guarantee online access, as well as remote uploading and use by the Tax Administration of the documentation thus kept.In these cases, the State Tax Administration Agency must be notified in advance of this circumstance.