This is not the first time we have dealt with this topic in our blog and, given its importance, it will not be the last. Once again, we are talking about the Crea y Crece Law, the key regulation for the digital invoicing of the entire Spanish business fabric. This regulation, although it has already been published in the BOE, has not yet entered into force 100% nor has it been applied in its entirety, as it is progressive. At easyap we have been able to learn about several changes that will take place in it and we want to use these lines to discuss them in depth. Below, we will reveal the updates to the Crea y Crece Law in the coming months.
What has the Crea y Crece Law included so far?
First of all, in case you still do not know the regulation, we briefly explain you what the Crea y Crece Law is. It is a regulation that was implemented to regulation that was implemented to promote the use of electronic invoicing among Spanish companies and the Public Administration.
For its part, this law has its own official name and by which it was published in the BOE: Law 25/2013, of December 27, on the promotion of electronic invoicing and the creation of the accounting registry of invoices in the public sector.. The regulation, basically establishes the obligation to issue and receive electronic invoices for certain types of commercial transactions. In turn, was published on September 29, 2022.
Its main objective was to promote the modernization modernization and streamlining of administrative and commercial processes. To this end, this legislation promotes the use of electronic means for invoicing, which helps to reduce the use of paper and the costs associated with invoice management. This helps to reduce the use of paper and the costs associated with the management of invoices in this physical medium. in this physical medium.
Although approved last year, this legislation set progressive deadlines for the adoption of electronic invoicing for supplier companies working with public administration entities. The aim was that all of them would gradually integrate this system and that, subsequently, the measures would be integrated into the entire business fabric. business fabric.
In any case, in this this article we detail in more depth everything that surrounds the Create and Grow Law.
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 relevant political event has taken place: the electoral advance.
Now, after the formation of a new central government, which is the competent body for this regulation, several adjustments foreseen in the Ley Crea y Crece will be approved over the next four years. At easyap we were recently able to meet with representatives of the government and the tax agency and they have advanced us several of these changes. Here we give you a preview of them.
Change in deadlines
One of the main ones will be the one concerning the deadlines for information and issuance of invoices.. A new year for companies will start between April and May 2024. Following this business calendar, the communication by companies of their invoicing data, from now on, will be as follows:
- Communication to the European Commission within 3 months.
- Report to the Council of State of the Spanish Government within 4 months from the approval of the Crea y Crece Law.
- In turn, the month of March 2024 is established as the threshold to which companies have to adhere to adjust to what is already published in the regulation. In other words, they have a period of time of one year from then on.
Companies that must now comply with the Crea y Crece Law
Also in terms of deadlines, it is important to make it clear which companies must comply from now on with what is included and modified after this update of the Crea y Crece Law. In this sense all Spanish companies that issue an invoice volume of more than 8 million invoices per year must comply with the provisions of the law.. In other words, electronic invoicing. They are also obliged at the same time to:
- Report all turnover.
- Issue any invoice in electronic format.
But not only large companies will be impacted by the law. The electronic invoicing rules and regulations will also be applied, although not with the same speed, to small and medium-sized companies. Specifically, anyone with a turnover of less than 8 million euros, have a period of 2 years to implement an electronic invoicing process. to implement an electronic invoicing process.
In summary, on the the deadlines that Spanish companies will have to issue and report on their electronic invoicing, the following arethese are:
- Large companies (invoicing more than 8 million per year): have 12 months both to implement a full online invoicing process and to report all their invoicing electronically.
- SMESSmall and medium-sized companies 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 workers will have a term of 36 months, that is, 3 years to go implementing a digital invoicing process, as well as to report electronically that same process to the Tax Agency.
Electronic invoice formats: Facturae by UBL
Another of the most important points that had not yet been finalized was the electronic invoice formats that would be accepted. electronic invoice formats that were to be accepted. The format of the invoices issued by the companies, and therefore received by the Tax Agency, had yet to be defined.
In this sense, from the agency itself, they confirm that the format accepted by the AEAT will be Facturae, due to its use in FACE for the issuance of invoices to Public Administrations due to the low digitalization in the Spanish territory. At the beginning it was thought to implement the UBL formatformat, due to its extension at European level as it is the format of the PEPPOL network. However, the Tax Agency assures that it will revert to Facturae.
Even so, while it is being implemented, formats such as XML, the aforementioned UBL, EDIIFACT... will continue to be valid. And even PEPPOL will be included. At the same time, the use of FACeB2B will continue to be used until the electronic invoicing regulation is actually approved..
What if the format does not match due to system incompatibility?
When companies implement electronic invoicing systems, there may be incompatibilities between the sender and receiver formats, it is possible that there may be incompatibilities between the formats of the sender and the receiver. At this point, operators such as easyap will have to adapt and change the formats depending on the one that interests the sender and receiver.
Precisely for this reason, it is important that you have a reliable operator who is proficient in handling a variety of solutions.. Thus, if the sender sends it in one format and the receiver is interested in another, guarantee companies, such as easyap, will try and know how to adapt the solution to each client.
However, if there is no operator capable of making two different formats compatible, what is established by the Crea y Crece 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 this case, the format required by the public system will be used.
The functioning of the IBS remains unchanged
At the same time, another aspect that we wanted to address was that of the the functioning of IBS. In case you are unfamiliar with these acronyms, in this article on IBS we detail specifically what it is, what it is used for and why it is mandatory and important for billing, taxation and taxation aspects.
But focusing on what might change with respect to IBS, the answer has been clear and straightforward: The SII is going to continue working as it has been doing so far. In other words, nothing will change. It will continue to be a totally independent system and will not be affected by the updates of the Crea y Crece Law.
In short, the SII will continue to be important and necessary as a tool for tax reporting, in addition to electronic invoicing itself.
Payments are communicated by the receiver and issuance by the supplier
In turn, at easyap, some customers have asked us about who should communicate the payment of an electronic invoice. The AEAT has confirmed to us that when an invoice has been paid, the receiver of the invoice is responsible for communicating it. of communicating it. They also point out that the payment information is the value date of the receiver, although the supplier may report the actual date of payment.
On the other hand, the issuing company continues to have the obligation to communicate the issuance of all its electronic invoices, the issuing company continues to be obliged to communicate the issuance of all its electronic invoices..
Webinar on November 28 on changes in regulations
You may find this information about the changes in the Create and Grow Law a bit overwhelming. Or, you may simply wish to delve more deeply into a specific aspect. In any case, don't worry because we are going to unravel all these aspects in a new a new webinar:
- Date: Tuesday, November 28, 2023
- Time: 11h00 CET
- Online Webinar: "News on the Crea y Crece Law".
In this appointment, you will be able to learn exclusive and valuable information about the following points discussed with the Tax Agency:
- Detailed explanation of regulatory requirements.
- Practical strategies to implement the necessary changes in your organization.
- Guarantee of compliance with the law.
If you have any further questions, we will be happy to answer them live during the session.
