On 5 October 2026 Spain's Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) announced that it will postpone Verifactu until October 2028. The headline "Verifactu postponed to 2028" has been everywhere since, and it raises a practical question: can I leave it for later?
The short answer: you can hope it will be postponed, but as of 25 October 2026 nothing has been postponed. There is an announcement. There is no law. And that difference matters, because what binds you is what is published in the BOE, Spain's official gazette.
First, what Verifactu is, for readers outside Spain: a set of rules (Royal Decree 1007/2023) requiring the software that issues invoices to record each one in a tamper-proof way, to put a QR code on it and, in one of its two modes, to send each record to the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) as it is issued. The duty falls on the invoicing system, not on the shop as such.
What is confirmed
Let us start with what can be cited.
The legal dates are still those of [Royal Decree-law 15/2025](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2025-24446), of 2 December (BOE of 3 December, in force on the 4th). It amended the fourth final provision of Royal Decree 1007/2023 and set:
Who | Date |
|---|---|
Companies paying Corporate Income Tax (*Impuesto sobre Sociedades*) | Before 1 January 2027 |
Everyone else (self-employed people under personal income tax, *IRPF*, among others) | Before 1 July 2027 |
The AEAT keeps them. Its information note on the adaptation deadline still speaks of 1 January and 1 July 2027. Its main page on invoicing systems links the Ministry's 5 October communication under the title "Forecast of extension of the adaptation period", that is, as a forecast, not a fact.
The announcement exists. The Ministry's information note (its title says the deadline for applying Verifactu to SMEs and the self-employed is being moved) says, as several firms quote it, that Hacienda considers it appropriate to postpone the pending obligations of Royal Decree 1007/2023 until October 2028, to line them up with e-invoicing for businesses and professionals with turnover up to €8 million, and that the technical guarantees will remain substantially equivalent.
What we do not know
- Which rule will do it, and when. Changing a deadline set by a royal decree-law requires another rule published in the BOE. That is how earlier postponements were done. As of 25 October we have found none published, nor reliable reports that the Council of Ministers has approved one. If there were one, it would appear in the BOE and the AEAT would change its note. Look there, not at a headline.
- The exact day. The note says "October 2028", with no day.
- What happens to businesses above €8 million. The note ties the postponement to e-invoicing for the group up to €8 million and says nothing specific about the rest.
- Whether the final text will match the announcement. It usually does, but it is not guaranteed.
And something few articles mention: the AEAT states that non-compliance can be penalised. Article 201 bis of Spain's General Tax Law provides, for holding an invoicing system that does not comply, a fine of €50,000 per tax year, which the Agency itself says is assessed case by case. That does not mean you would receive it on 2 January. It means betting on the postponement arriving in time is a bet, and it is worth knowing what you lose if it fails.
Who is covered
Verifactu is not an "online shop" rule: it applies to the computer systems that issue invoices. If your business invoices through a program, a plugin or an ERP, that system has to comply. It covers full and simplified invoices, including those to consumers.
Outside the rule, according to Royal Decree 1007/2023:
- Entities exempt from Corporate Income Tax (for their exempt income).
- Taxpayers who keep their VAT books through the SII (*Suministro Inmediato de Información*, the near-real-time VAT reporting system that large companies and some others must use, and others can join voluntarily).
- Operations carried out through permanent establishments abroad.
- And note: the regulation applies without prejudice to the regional tax regimes. If your tax domicile is in the Basque Country or Navarre, your case is different (they have their own systems, such as TicketBAI). Ask your adviser; do not assume.
If you are a foreign business or freelancer, the test is whether you are a taxpayer in Spain who issues invoices through a system. Whether that includes you depends on your set-up, so ask your *gestor*, the professional who handles tax filings for many small Spanish businesses.
What a WooCommerce shop needs
WooCommerce does not issue invoices. It generates orders. The issuer is an invoicing plugin, an invoicing program or an ERP, and that system is the one that must comply. That said, what it must do comes down to three things.
A record for every invoice, with its digital fingerprint (hash) chained to the previous record, so nothing can be altered or deleted without leaving a trace.
A QR code on the invoice with partial data from it, so the customer can check it with the AEAT. If the system sends the records to the AEAT at the moment of issue (the VERI\*FACTU mode), the invoice must also carry the phrase "VERI\*FACTU" or "Factura verificable en la sede electrónica de la AEAT". If it does not send them, that phrase does not go on.
A declaration of compliance from the manufacturer (*declaración responsable*). There is no AEAT certificate: what exists is a document signed by the software producer stating that its system complies. Before buying or renewing, ask for it, plus the product version it refers to and how it will be updated if the rule changes. We do not call a product "compatible" without having seen it.
On the modes: there are two. In VERI\*FACTU the system sends each record to the AEAT as the invoice is issued. In the other, it stores and keeps them without sending. According to the AEAT, anyone who starts using a VERI\*FACTU system once it is mandatory must keep it at least until the end of the calendar year in which it starts sending. Before the mandatory date it is a trial period: you can use it and stop whenever you like.
What to do in your case
You invoice from a program or ERP connected to the shop. Ask for its declaration of compliance and when the adapted version will be ready. Check that the connection to the shop keeps working with that version: that is where things break.
You invoice from WordPress with a plugin. Your shop plus that plugin are the system. Check whether the plugin declares compliance. If its maker does not mention it, ask. If there is no answer, you know what to consider: moving to a connected program.
You invoice by hand, with a spreadsheet or a word-processor document. Talk to your adviser first. With few invoices, the AEAT's free app may be enough; with more volume, a connected program. With mandatory B2B e-invoicing on the way, it is worth solving both in one change.
You are in the SII or in a regional tax territory. You probably fall under a different regime. Confirm with your adviser.
You are a company. Your current legal date is 1 January 2027, a little over two months away. If you rely on the postponement, do so knowing it is a bet.
You are self-employed. Your current legal date is 1 July 2027.
So, wait or prepare?
The sensible thing is to do what costs nothing in any scenario: know how you invoice today, which system does it and what its maker says. If the postponement is published, you will have gained time. If it is not, you will not be starting from zero in December.
Deciding when to change system is a different matter, and depends on your volume, your provider and your adviser. But the information to decide should be in your hands now, not in the last month.
For a quick steer, we have a free Verifactu checker: four questions, and it tells you which date would apply under the rules in force and where to start. It does not replace your adviser.
The B2B e-invoicing duty is a different rule with its own dates (October 2027 and 2028): we explain it here.
What we do
We do not give tax advice and we do not sell invoicing software. What we do at AGENCIA RSE is the technical part: connecting WooCommerce to the invoicing program that complies, so the order arrives on its own and corrective invoices for returns do not fall through the cracks.
*Reviewed on 25 October 2026 against the AEAT and the BOE (both in Spanish). If the postponement is published or you spot anything outdated, let us know and we will correct it. This article is not tax advice: confirm your case with your gestor or tax adviser.*