It’s not the first time we’ve addressed this topic on our blog, and due to its importance, it won’t be the last. Once again, we’re talking about the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law,the key regulation for digital invoicing across the entire Spanish business fabric. This regulation, although already published in the BOE (Official State Gazette), has not yet fully come into effect or been entirely applied, as it is progressive. At easyap, we’ve become aware of several changes that will occur within it, and we want to use these lines to discuss them in depth. Below, we reveal theupdates to the ‘Crea y Crece’ Lawfor the coming months.
What the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law covers so far
First of all, in case you’re not yet familiar with the regulation, we’ll briefly explain what the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law is.It is also a regulation that was implemented to encourage the use of electronic invoicing among Spanish companies and the Public Administration.
Furthermore, this law has its own official name under which it was published in the BOE: Law 25/2013, of December 27, on promoting electronic invoicing and creating the accounting register of invoices in the public sector. The rule basically establishes the obligation to issue and receive electronic invoices for certain types of commercial transactions. In turn, it was published on September 29, 2022.
Its main objective was to promote the modernization and streamlining of administrative and commercial processes.To do this, this legislation promotes the use of electronic means for invoicing, which contributes to reducing paper usage and the costs associated with invoice managementon this physical medium.
Although it was approved last year, this legislation set progressive deadlines for the adoption of electronic invoicing for supplier companies that work with public administration entities. The goal was for all of them to gradually integrate this system and for the measures to subsequently be integrated throughout the entire business fabric.
However, in this article we detail more in depth everything surrounding the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law.
The latest changes and updates to the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law
The fact is that after the Ministry of Finance and Public Function of Spain approved this law, a significant political event has occurred: the early election.
Now, after a new central government has been formed, which is the competent body for this regulation, several adjustments foreseen in the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law will be approved over the next four years. At easyap, we recently had the opportunity to meet with representatives from the Government and the Tax Agency and they have informed us of several of those changes. Here, we give you a preview of them.
Change in deadlines
One of the main ones will be that related to the deadlines for reporting and issuing invoices. Between April and May 2024, a new year will begin for companies. Following this business calendar, the communication of invoicing data by companies, from now on, will be as follows:
– Communication to the European Commission within 3 months.
– Report to the Council of State of the Government of Spain within 4 months from the approval of the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law.
– In turn, March 2024 is established as the threshold by which companies must abide to comply with what is already published in the regulation. That is, they have a one-year period from then.
Companies that must comply with the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law immediately
Also regarding deadlines, it is important to clarify which companies must immediately comply with what is gathered and modified after this update to the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law. In this regard, All Spanish companies issuing an annual invoice volume exceeding 8 million euros annually must comply with the regulation,. In other words, electronic invoicing. These companies are also simultaneously obliged to:
– Report all invoicing volume.
– Issue all invoices in electronic format.
However, not only large companies will be affected by the law. The electronic invoicing legislation and regulations will also be applied, albeit not as quickly, to medium and small enterprises. Specifically, any entity with an invoicing volume below 8 million euros has a 2-year period to implement an electronic invoicing process.
In summary, regarding the timeframes Spanish companies will have to issue and report their electronic invoices, these are:
– Large Enterprises (with annual invoicing exceeding 8 million Euros): have 12 months to implement a fully online invoicing process and to report all their invoicing electronically.
– SMEs: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises have 24 months to implement an electronic invoicing system, although the deadline for issuing online invoices will be 12 months.
– Self-employed professionals: self-employed individuals will have a 36-month period, or 3 years, to implement a digital invoicing process and to electronically report this process to the Tax Agency.
Electronic Invoice Formats: Facturae by UBL
Another crucial point that had not yet been clarified was the electronic invoice formats that were going to be accepted. The format for invoices issued by companies, and subsequently received by the Tax Agency, still needed to be defined.
In this respect, the agency itself confirms that the format accepted by the AEAT will be Facturae, due to its use in FACE for issuing invoices to Public Administrations because of low digitalization in Spanish territory. Initially, the intention was to implement the UBL format, due to its European-wide adoption as the format for the PEPPOL network. However, the Tax Agency assures that Facturae will be used again.
Even so, while it is being implemented, formats such as XML, the aforementioned UBL, EDIIFACT… will continue to be valid And, PEPPOL will even be included.At the same time, it will continue to be used FACeB2B until the e-invoicing regulation.
What if the format doesn’t match due to system incompatibility?
When companies implement e-invoicing systems, there may be incompatibilities between the sender’s and receiver’s formats. At that point, operators like easyap will have to adapt and change formats based on what suits the sender and receiver.
Precisely for this reason, it is important to have a trusted operator who is proficient in handling diverse solutions. Thus, if the sender sends it in one format and the receiver prefers another, reliable companies, like easyap, will process and adapt the solution to each client.
However, if there is no operator capable of making two different formats compatible, the provisions of the Crea y Crece Law will prevail. In other words, in that scenario, the format required by the public system will be used.
The operation of the SII does not change
At the same time, another aspect we wanted to address was the operation of the SII.If these acronyms sound unfamiliar to you, in this article about the SII we detail exactly what it is, what it’s for, and why it is mandatory and important for invoicing, tax, and fiscal aspects.
But focusing on what might change regarding the SII, the answer has been clear and direct: The SII will continue to operate as before. That is to say, nothing will change. It will remain a completely independent system and will not be affected by the updates to the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law.
In summary, the SII will continue to be important and necessary as a tool for tax reporting, independently of electronic invoicing itself.
Payments are reported by the recipient and issuance by the supplier
In turn, some easyap clients have raised questions about who should report the payment of an electronic invoice. The AEAT has confirmed to us that when an invoice has been paid, its recipient is responsible for reporting it. They also state that the payment information is the recipient’s value date, although the supplier may report the actual payment date.
Meanwhile, the issuing company continues to have the obligation to report the issuance of all its electronic invoices.
Webinar on November 28 about changes in regulations
Perhaps this information about the changes in the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law seems a bit overwhelming to you. Or, perhaps, you simply wish to delve deeper into a specific aspect. In any case, don’t worry because we are going to break down all these aspects in a new webinar:
– Date: Tuesday, November 28, 2023
– Time: 11:00 AM CET
– Online Webinar: “Updates on the ‘Crea y Crece’ Law”
At this event, you will mainly be able to learn exclusive and highly valuable information on the following points discussed with the Tax Agency:
- Detailed explanation of the regulatory requirements.
- Practical strategies for implementing the necessary changes in your organization.
- Guarantee of compliance with the law.
If you have more questions, we will be happy to answer all your doubts live during the session.
