By Ioana Ploesteanu

Senior Product Marketing Manager

Tradeshift

About the Author

As part of the Product team, Ioana Ploesteanu partners with marketing and engineering to craft the positioning and lead user engagement strategies for e-Invoicing compliance and AI-driven capabilities.

The Royal Decree under the Crea y Crece Law was adopted on March 24, 2026. Here’s what it means for your business and how Tradeshift can help you stay ahead.

Spain has taken a decisive step in its digital tax transformation. On March 24, 2026, the Spain’s Council of Ministers adopted a Royal Decree establishing mandatory B2B e-invoicing for businesses and self-employed professionals, a milestone years in the making under the Ley Crea y Crece (Law 18/2022). 

With implementation expected to start July 1, 2027 for large companies, the clock is now ticking. If your organization operates in Spain or plans to, this is the moment to act. In this article, we break down what changed, what you need to do, and why Tradeshift is the right partner to guide you through Spain’s mandate and beyond.

Stay updated on e-Invoicing compliance news by following our Compliance blog.

What is the latest news from Spain?

After a long legislative journey marked by multiple public consultations, technical delays, and postponements, Spain’s Council of Ministers formally adopted the Royal Decree on March 24, 2026, giving mandatory B2B e-invoicing a clear legal footing for the first time.

Under the Crea y Crece Law (Law 18/2022), Spain is introducing mandatory B2B e-invoicing, requiring businesses to issue, transmit, and store invoices in structured electronic formats such as FacturaE, UBL, or CII.

The rollout follows a phased approach based on company size:

• Large businesses (annual turnover above €8 million): Must comply 12 months after the adoption of the Royal Decree, pointing to a July 1, 2027 deadline.
• SMEs and all other taxpayers: Must comply 24 months after the Royal Decree, expected in mid-2028.

Under the Crea y Crece law, invoice recipients will be required to report the status of each invoice, including acceptance, rejection, or full or partial payment, to the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) within 4 calendar days of the transaction, providing increased transparency and helping reduce late payments. 

It is also important not to confuse this B2B mandate with VeriFactu, Spain’s other ongoing e-invoicing obligation. Spain has introduced two parallel obligations: VeriFactu (Royal Decree 1007/2023), which requires certified invoicing software that guarantees the integrity and immutability of invoices, and the Crea y Crece B2B e-invoicing mandate, which governs the electronic exchange of invoices between businesses. 

On the VeriFactu side, Royal Decree-Law 15/2025 established new deadlines of January 1, 2027 for Corporate Income Tax taxpayers and July 1, 2027 for business owners and professionals under IRPF.

What formats will be accepted for the e-Invoicing mandate in Spain?

Spain has opted for a decentralised Continuous Transaction Control model supporting the following e-invoice file formats: UBL, Facturae, CII, and EDIFACT. The system will be supported by both a public electronic invoicing solution acting as an invoice repository and private e-invoice exchange platforms operated by approved agents.

Who is in scope for the e-Invoicing mandate in Spain?

The mandate will apply only to B2B local transactions. E-invoicing will not be mandatory when the customer is a business not established in Spain or lacking a permanent business site in the country. Non-resident companies will only be subject to e-invoicing obligations if their local B2B transactions are carried out through a permanent establishment in Spain.

There are also regional nuances to keep in mind: the mandate will apply across all Autonomous Communities, including Ceuta, Melilla, and the Canary Islands, except the Basque Country and Navarre, which have their own systems (TicketBAI and specific regulations). 

What are the penalties for non-compliance with the e-Invoicing mandate in Spain?

Penalties for non-compliance are significant. Invoice errors can attract fines of 1 to 2% of the transaction value, rising to 75% in cases of fraud. Software breaches can result in penalties of up to €150,000 per year for providers and €50,000 for users.

How to prepare for the e-Invoicing mandate in Spain?

July 2027 may sound distant, but anyone who has lived through an e-invoicing implementation knows that 12 to 18 months go by fast, especially when ERP integrations, internal testing, and user training are involved. Here is a practical roadmap:

1. Understand your scope

Determine whether your Spanish operations fall under the large company threshold (turnover exceeding €8 million) or the SME category. If you have a permanent establishment in Spain conducting B2B transactions, you are in scope.

2. Audit your current invoicing systems

Evaluate whether your existing ERP or invoicing software can generate structured electronic invoices in one of the accepted formats: UBL, Facturae, CII, or EDIFACT. During the first 12 months after the Royal Decree enters into force, companies required to issue electronic invoices must accompany them with a PDF copy to ensure readability for counterparties for whom the obligation has not yet come into effect, unless the recipient voluntarily agrees to receive invoices in their original structured format.

3. Plan your platform connectivity

You will need to connect to either the public e-invoicing platform managed by AEAT or an approved private platform, or both. Build this infrastructure decision into your project plan early.

4. Prepare your invoice status workflows

Spain’s mandate goes beyond simple invoice issuance. Recipients must be able to report invoice statuses back to the tax authority within four calendar days. This requires changes to your Accounts Payable processes, not just the AP system itself.

5. Align with VeriFactu requirements

If you are not already reporting through Spain’s SII system, ensure your invoicing software will be VeriFactu-compliant by the applicable 2027 deadline.

6. Think globally, not just locally

If your company is running parallel e-invoicing projects for France, Germany, Poland, The UK, or any other country with an active mandate, Spain should be coordinated within that broader program, not treated as a standalone project.

Why choose Tradeshift as your global e-invoicing provider, not only for Spain?

Meeting Spain’s mandate is one thing. Managing e-invoicing compliance across multiple countries simultaneously is an entirely different challenge, and that is exactly where Tradeshift stands apart.

One platform, many mandates

Global companies operating in Europe and beyond are facing a wave of overlapping mandates: France‘s mandate is already underway, Germany rolled out its requirements in 2025 and has the second phase in 2027, Belgium‘s B2B obligation is live since January 2026, Poland since February 2026, Romania has e-invoicing enforced since 2024, The UK has announced their plans for 2029, and now Spain has formally joined the list. Managing each of these separately through different vendors, integrations, and formats creates risk, cost, and complexity.

Tradeshift is built for this reality. As a global e-invoicing compliance platform, Tradeshift covers mandates across dozens of countries, allowing your finance, IT, and tax teams to work from a single source of truth, regardless of where your operations are located.

Designed for the complexity Spain demands

Spain’s dual-track approach combining VeriFactu and Crea y Crece, multiple accepted formats, invoice status reporting requirements, and regional exceptions make it one of Europe’s more technically intricate mandates. Tradeshift’s compliance engine is designed to handle exactly this kind of complexity, managing format mapping, platform connectivity, and status workflows without placing that burden on your internal team.

No mandate is an island

The EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) initiative is reshaping the entire European invoicing landscape. Spain’s alignment with ViDA is already underway. Spain’s 2022 law anticipated the ViDA changes, and the B2B mandate rollout for 2027 and 2028 is timed to align with broader EU digital VAT reform. Working with Tradeshift means your compliance posture evolves alongside these broader regulatory shifts, not behind them.

Built for your team

Tradeshift is designed with your entire project team in mind: from Tax Managers who need regulatory certainty, to Finance Managers who want faster payment cycles, to IT and EDI specialists who need clean integrations, to Project Managers who need a trusted implementation partner. The platform’s intuitive interface and deep compliance expertise reduce the burden on every stakeholder.

Spain is ready. Is your business?

Spain’s e-invoicing mandate is no longer a draft or a forecast. It is the law. The Royal Decree adopted on March 24, 2026 sets a clear path: large companies must be compliant by July 1, 2027, and all other businesses by mid-2028.

The question for global companies is not whether to comply, but how and with whom. Fragmented, country-by-country approaches create unnecessary risk and cost. A single, trusted global partner does not.

Choose Tradeshift as your global e-invoicing compliance partner. Tradeshift is a flexible, global e-invoicing compliance platform available in 27 languages, built to align businesses with mandates across the world, including France, Poland, The UK, Belgium, and beyond. 

Beyond compliance, Tradeshift’s AI capabilities make it a powerful Accounts Payable platform that should be the first choice of any forward-thinking finance department looking to reduce friction, accelerate payments, and operate with confidence in an increasingly digital-first regulatory environment.