Verifactu for freelancers in Spain: what changes in 2027 (and why your expense app doesn't need it)

If you've heard about Verifactu and aren't sure whether it applies to you, you're not alone. It's one of the topics generating the most anxiety among autónomos right now, and most of the confusion comes from not knowing exactly who the rule is aimed at.

Let's break it down.

What Verifactu actually is

Verifactu is the popular name for the regulation developing Real Decreto 1007/2023 (the RRSIF, the "Requirements for Invoicing Software Systems" regulation). It governs software that issues invoices: how it must record each one, what guarantees it must give that records can't be altered afterward, and what information it must be able to send to the Spanish tax agency (AEAT).

Specifically, invoicing software will need to:

• Chain each invoice to the previous one with a hash, so nothing can be deleted or edited without leaving a trace
• Generate a QR code on every invoice
• Offer the option to send records to AEAT in real time
• Come with a formal compliance declaration from the software vendor

Notice the verb: issues. The whole regulation is built around the software that generates your sales invoices, not the one you use to store the expense receipts you receive.

Who it applies to, and the real deadlines

The deadline has already been pushed back twice (it was originally supposed to start in July 2025, then moved to 2026), and under Real Decreto-ley 15/2025 it now stands at:

• Companies (corporate tax / Impuesto sobre Sociedades): January 1, 2027
• Autónomos (personal income tax / IRPF): July 1, 2027

If you're self-employed, you have until July 2027. But it only applies to you if you're the one issuing invoices with your own software. If your gestor issues invoices to your clients on your behalf, the compliance obligation sits with them: it's their software that needs to be certified, not yours.

Penalties for using non-compliant invoicing software can reach €50,000, so if you issue your own invoices through your own software, it's worth confirming with your provider that they're already working on the update.

What Verifactu does NOT touch: the expenses you receive

Here's the part that brings the most relief and gets explained the least: Verifactu does not regulate software that receives or archives expense invoices.

AEAT itself clarifies this in its official FAQ: the RRSIF does not apply to software systems that don't issue invoices. If your app is only used to capture and organize the invoices and receipts you receive from suppliers (fuel, materials, software subscriptions, restaurants), it sits entirely outside the scope of the rule.

The tax agency has also clarified that using Word or Excel "as a typewriter" (just to type in data and print or send it, without processing or storing records in a structured way) doesn't turn you into an invoicing software system either.

The one thing that hasn't changed, and won't change with this regulation, is the pre-existing duty to keep and conserve the invoices you receive to justify your deductions. That obligation was there before Verifactu and stays exactly the same.

This is exactly where an app like SinTrámite fits: since it only captures and organizes your expenses (it never issues invoices to anyone), it falls outside Verifactu by design. There's nothing to "adapt" because it was never inside the perimeter the regulation covers.

A practical checklist for 2026

You don't need to act urgently, but it's worth getting ahead of it:

1. Find out who issues your sales invoices. If your gestor does it through their own software, compliance is on them: just ask directly whether they're already handling it
2. If you issue your own invoices through your own software, contact that provider and get confirmation they'll be compliant before July 2027
3. Keep saving your expense receipts and invoices exactly as you do now: that obligation hasn't changed
4. Don't confuse "my expense app" with "my invoicing software": they're different tools with different rules
5. Note your actual deadline: January 2027 if you file under corporate tax, July 2027 if you're self-employed under IRPF

Quick FAQ

Do I need to switch expense apps because of Verifactu? No. If it only captures the receipts and invoices you receive, it doesn't issue invoices, so it isn't an invoicing software system (SIF).

What if my gestor issues my invoices? Then compliance is their software's responsibility, not yours.

What about the simplified receipts I get (fuel, restaurants)? Nothing changes there. They stay on paper, and your job is still to capture and keep them so you can deduct them.

When should I actually start worrying? Only if you issue invoices yourself through your own software. In that case, get it sorted before July 2027.