All EU member states have a fixed format for their VAT numbers. In Spain, it includes a letter, 7 or 8 numbers, letter, and the prefix ES (e.g., ESX01234567A).
The standard VAT rate in Spain is 21%, with reduced rates of 10% and 4% on certain goods and services. Some services are exempt from Spanish VAT, such as exportations and international transport.
All businesses with a Spanish VAT number must submit periodic VAT reports and payments.
For all companies that operate in Spain, VAT returns must be submitted monthly or quarterly, depending on the annual revenue of the business entity.
In the case of the late filing of VAT returns and payments, the Spanish government prescribed the penalties as follows:
According to the requirements of Agencia Tributaria, invoices must contain the following information:
Incorrect invoices result in a penalty of 1% of the total amount of all invoices wrongly issued. Failure to issue invoices will trigger a penalty of 2% of the total amount of invoices not issued.
Electronic invoicing is mandatory only for B2G transactions, but the Spanish government is already working on its expansion for B2B transactions as well.
At this moment, electronic invoicing is permitted but not mandatory for B2B and B2C transactions.
Immediate Supply of Information, or Suministro Inmediato de Información (SII) in Spanish, is the tax control system effective from July 1, 2017.
This system requires large taxpayers to maintain their VAT books and invoice records through the AEAT Electronic Office. These submissions must be completed within four working days of the issuance of the invoice and sent to tax authorities as an XML file.
Who is affected by this obligation?
Date updated [May 12, 2021]
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