What Verifactu is

Verifactu — the Tax Agency’s VERI*FACTU / verifiable invoice regime — is not a chatbot. It is the rulebook for billing software (SIF) that issues invoices in Spain, under Royal Decree 1007/2023 and the later deadline change.

Four sentences. One: it applies to businesses and professionals who invoice in common-regime Spain. Two: it does not apply to taxpayers in the Basque Country or Navarre under this rule. Three: the system must keep integrity-preserving billing records; in the VERI*FACTU mode those records go to the AEAT and the invoice may carry a QR and a verifiable-invoice legend. Four: a supplier-invoice OCR reader is not a SIF. It reads what you receive. It does not issue what you bill.

This page does not replace the AEAT site or your adviser. It exists so you do not buy a “homologated” pack that mixes three jobs: issuing, extracting, and scanning paper in order to throw it away.

In shop-floor language

Many SMEs still invoice from Word, a template or a tool that lets you delete and retype amounts. The billing-systems regulation wants the issuing programme to behave like a ledger: a record per invoice (and per void), integrity, traceability, a format the administration can read.

VERI*FACTU is the mode that sends that record to the AEAT. It is not the same as B2B e-invoicing under the Crea y Crece law (a structured invoice between firms). A Verifactu billing record is not the full invoice. Generating those records is not, by itself, issuing an electronic invoice.

The AEAT publishes a free VERI*FACTU invoicing app. If your volume fits, that is a real option. “Verifactu gratis” in search often means that app, or a course — not a €6,000 voucher dressed as a SIF.

When it takes effect (2027)

Deadlines moved. Royal Decree-law 15/2025 (BOE 3 December 2025) gave taxpayers longer to adapt their SIF: Corporate Income Tax filers before 1 January 2027; everyone else in scope — including most self-employed — before 1 July 2027.

That is the taxpayer deadline. Software vendors have their own certification calendar. Do not mix “our product is ready” with your date. Ask: does this programme issue my invoices? In which mode? What happens to the Word invoices already sent?

If a salesperson says “mandatory in 2025” or “this July for everyone”, ask for the provision. The postponements exist because the earlier calendar did not hold.

Who is in — and who is not

Common-regime issuers. Not a nationwide “everyone in Spain” duty. Foral territories (Basque Country, Navarre) sit outside this particular rule.

A tool that does not issue invoices is not a SIF just because it stores a PDF. Inbox OCR, a CRM, a collections spreadsheet: out of this regulation. The RRSIF talks about the system that supports billing — outbound — not the mailroom.

If you invoice with the AEAT app, that is your SIF. If you invoice with an ERP, that ERP (or its issue module) must comply. If you “invoice” by emailing a handmade PDF while software only archives it, the gap is issuance, not OCR.

Kit Digital is not a magic bypass

AEAT FAQs map billing systems to the Kit Digital process-management category (and e-invoicing where that catalogue line applies). That does not turn every “processes + AI” voucher into a Verifactu SIF.

Our process-management sheet is a flow: issue or capture, if it fits. We do not sell homologated SIF software and we do not claim adhered status. “I still invoice in Word” is an issuance project. “Admin retypes supplier invoices” is capture. Different deliverable.

Be wary of a pack that welds Verifactu + e-invoice + OCR + destroy-the-paper + Kit Digital into one sentence. Different rules, different dates.

What Verifactu is not

• Not an OCR reader. OCR reads inbound documents; Verifactu regulates outbound billing software.
• Not certified digitisation (Order EHA/962/2007). Extracting text does not let you bin the paper.
• Not B2B electronic invoicing.
• Not an “AI for SMEs” badge.
• Not a duty in the Basque Country and Navarre under this rule.

What to do this week

Write down what you issue with today. Ask that vendor for a written SIF / VERI*FACTU roadmap. If volume is low, try the AEAT app in a test space. If volume is high, ask about mode, QR, records, credit notes, and the user who deletes and re-issues.

If the pain is retyping supplier invoices, that does not wait for 2027. That is capture. We have an invoice OCR reader that extracts fields and leaves a human the ones that do not add up. It is not a SIF. We do not sell it as Verifactu.

Frequently asked questions

Is Verifactu mandatory for the self-employed?

For common-regime self-employed people, the SIF adaptation deadline is 1 July 2027 (RDL 15/2025). Corporate Income Tax filers have 1 January 2027. Confirm with your adviser.

Is there a free Verifactu?

The AEAT publishes a free VERI*FACTU invoicing app. “Free” is not an agency SIF at zero cost on a voucher.

Does invoice OCR satisfy Verifactu?

Not if it only reads inbound invoices. The regulation covers the system you issue with.

Can we destroy paper if we use OCR?

Not because of OCR. Destroying the original needs certified digitisation with homologated software (Order EHA/962/2007).

Next: B2B e-invoicing, Kit Digital and the SIF and the invoice OCR reader. Tell us whether the problem is issuing or retyping.