What VeriFactu is, who it obliges in holiday rentals, and how it fits with traveller registration and the tourist tax. An honest guide to what you have to do and what each tool does not cover.
What VeriFactu is and where it comes from
VeriFactu is the verifiable invoicing system driven by the Spanish Tax Agency to fight tax fraud. The underlying idea is simple: the software you use to issue invoices must not be able to alter them afterwards without leaving a trace, and every invoice must be verifiable.
Its origin is Law 11/2021 (known as the anti-fraud law), which bans so-called “dual-use software” —programs that allow off-the-books accounting. Its development came with Royal Decree 1007/2023, which approved the regulation on invoicing software systems (SIF), and with the ministerial order that sets the technical specifications. VeriFactu is the mode in which the system automatically sends the invoicing records to the Tax Agency.
Who it obliges in holiday rentals
The obligation to invoice with a compliant system affects businesses and professionals who issue invoices and use software to do so. In holiday rentals, that includes both companies managing accommodations and self-employed hosts who invoice for their activity.
There are relevant nuances. Someone who only operates through platforms that already issue the documentation, or who is in certain regimes, may have different obligations; and not every receipt handed to a guest amounts to an invoice subject to the regulation. So the first question is not which software to buy, but whether you issue invoices with a program: if you do, that program will have to be compliant. Confirm your specific case with your tax adviser.
What a compliant invoicing system requires
The regulation sets a series of requirements the software you invoice with must meet. It is not something you configure: it is the software maker’s responsibility to provide a compliant system. In essence:
- ✓Integrity and immutability: each invoicing record is protected so it cannot be modified or deleted without leaving a record.
- ✓Traceability: records are chained with a fingerprint (hash) that links each invoice to the previous one, so a gap is detectable.
- ✓Retention and legibility of the records for the required periods.
- ✓In VeriFactu mode, automatic sending of the records to the Tax Agency at the moment of issue.
- ✓A QR code and a note on the invoice that allows its verification.
The deadlines: 2027 on the horizon
The entry-into-force calendar has been changed several times. Under the current calendar, the obligation arrives in 2027: first for companies (corporate income tax payers) on 1 January 2027, and for the self-employed and other obligors on 1 July 2027.
Because the dates have been postponed repeatedly, it pays to follow them closely. We have dedicated a specific guide to the calendar and what to do in each stretch, linked here.
Official sources
- VeriFactu deadlines in 2027: the full calendar— Dates by type of obligor and what to prepare before each one
- Tax Agency — information on invoicing software systems— AEAT electronic office
VeriFactu or “non-VeriFactu”: two ways to comply
The regulation allows two modes, and it pays not to confuse them. In VeriFactu mode, the program automatically sends each invoicing record to the Tax Agency at the moment the invoice is issued. It is the simplest way to prove compliance, because the data reaches the tax office on its own.
In “non-VeriFactu” mode, the program does not send invoices continuously, but in exchange it must meet stricter requirements for retaining and safeguarding the records, with an electronic signature and available to the Tax Agency if it asks. Both are valid; the difference is who keeps and sends the records. For most small accommodations, VeriFactu mode tends to be the more convenient one because it delegates that burden to the program itself.
What happens if you use non-compliant software
The anti-fraud law does not only require you to invoice with a compliant system: it expressly penalises the opposite. The General Tax Law (article 201 bis, introduced by Law 11/2021) sets specific fines for invoicing systems that do not meet the requirements.
Merely holding a non-compliant invoicing system can be fined up to €50,000 per year, and manufacturing or marketing it carries even higher amounts. It is not a theoretical risk: it is why software makers are adapting their programs, and why it pays to confirm in good time that yours will be compliant before the deadline.
It is not the same as mandatory e-invoicing
They are constantly confused, but VeriFactu and mandatory business-to-business e-invoicing are two different things. VeriFactu governs that the program you invoice with is tamper-proof and can report its records to the Tax Agency.
Mandatory e-invoicing between businesses and professionals comes from a different law, Law 18/2022 (known as “Crea y Crece”), with its own implementing regulation and its own calendar. One governs what your invoicing software must be like; the other, the format in which you exchange invoices with other businesses. Complying with one does not exempt you from the other.
VeriFactu, SES Hospedajes and the tourist tax are different things
It pays to be clear here so you do not mix up obligations. As a tourist accommodation you have three independent duties that are often confused:
Traveller registration with SES Hospedajes (or Mossos and Ertzaintza in Catalonia and the Basque Country) reports who is staying, for public safety. The tourist tax you charge the guest and settle with the region or the town hall. And VeriFactu is a tax obligation about how you issue your invoices before the Tax Agency. They are different systems and administrations: complying with one does not cover the others.
What BookCheckin does and does not do (honestly)
Let us be transparent: BookCheckin is not an invoicing program and today it does not issue VeriFactu invoices. Our ground is the other side of check-in: collecting the guest’s data, scanning their document, filing the report with SES Hospedajes within the deadline, and calculating and charging the applicable tourist tax.
For VeriFactu you will need compliant invoicing software (your adviser’s or a management program that offers that mode). BookCheckin handles traveller registration and the tax; your invoicing tool handles the invoices. We are not going to sell you that we solve an obligation we do not: we would rather you know exactly what each piece covers so no duty is left uncovered.