Factura rectificativa (corrective invoice) in Spain: when it is mandatory, how to issue it and how to report it on the modelo 303

What a factura rectificativa (and a factura de abono) is, and why it is never deleted

A factura rectificativa is a new invoice, with its own number and its own date, that corrects another invoice already issued. The original still exists: you keep it, it stays recorded in your issued invoices register (libro registro de facturas expedidas) and its number is never reused. The corrective invoice is added to it and records what changed and by how much.

Consecutive numbering is a requirement for every invoice (art. 6.1.a) RD 1619/2012) and only one original of each invoice is allowed (art. 14 RD 1619/2012). If you open the PDF, change the amount and resend it with the same number, you end up with two different documents sharing the same identity, and neither matches what you have already declared on the modelo 303 (the quarterly VAT return; VAT is IVA in Spanish).

The factura de abono (credit note, also called nota de abono) that many businesses use is not a separate legal concept: if it corrects an invoice downwards for one of the legal reasons, it is a factura rectificativa and must meet all its requirements. The same goes for the so-called negative invoice: the regulation allows the correction to be shown with a minus sign (art. 15.5 RD 1619/2012), but the document has to be a proper corrective invoice, with its own series and a reference to the invoice it corrects.

A draft is a different matter: until it has been issued, you can change it freely. Once it is issued, any change goes through a corrective invoice.

When it is mandatory and when you can modify the VAT taxable base

Art. 15 RD 1619/2012 sets out two broad groups of reasons (sections 1 and 2), which in practice translate into six situations. In the first four, correcting is mandatory. In the last two the law says the base "may" be reduced: it is your choice, but if you reduce it, the corrective invoice is mandatory.

1. Error in the invoice details. The original does not meet one of the requirements of arts. 6 or 7 of the regulation: wrong NIF (tax identification number), incorrect customer name or address, missing reference to the exemption or the wording "inversión del sujeto pasivo" (reverse charge), insufficient description (art. 15.1).
2. Error in the VAT amounts. The output VAT (IVA repercutido) was calculated wrongly: wrong rate, base added up incorrectly, VAT charged on an exempt supply or not charged on a taxable one (art. 15.2 and art. 89 of the VAT Act, LIVA).
3. Return of goods or packaging, or cancellation of the transaction. The customer returns all or part of the goods, or the sale is cancelled or its price changes after it has taken place: the base is reduced (art. 80.Uno and Dos LIVA).
4. Later discounts. Volume rebates (rappels), bonuses or price reductions granted after the transaction, provided they are properly supported (art. 80.Uno.2.º LIVA).
5. Bad debt (optional). The debt is wholly or partly uncollectable and you meet the requirements of art. 80.Cuatro LIVA: this is how you recover the VAT you paid over but never collected.
6. Customer insolvency proceedings (optional). The concurso de acreedores is the Spanish court insolvency procedure. If, after the chargeable event, the court order declaring the customer insolvent is issued and they have not paid you, you can reduce the base (art. 80.Tres LIVA).

There is a seventh, less common case: when the price was not known at the time of invoicing and you set it provisionally on reasonable grounds, you must correct the invoice once you know the final amount (art. 80.Seis LIVA).

Art. 89.Uno LIVA reinforces the obligation from the tax side: correcting wrongly charged VAT is not optional, and it applies even when you issued an invoice without charging VAT (art. 89.Dos). There is an important exception: if the correction increases the VAT and your customer is a private individual, you cannot correct it unless the reason is one listed in art. 80 or a statutory rate increase (art. 89.Tres.1.º).

When you do not need a corrective invoice, even if it looks like you do

The cases that cause the most doubt:

• Return combined with a later order from the same customer. If the customer returns goods or packaging when you make a new supply and the original transaction was invoiced, you can deduct the returned items on the invoice for the new order instead of issuing a corrective invoice, provided all the transactions carry the same VAT rate. The result may be positive or negative (art. 15.2, second paragraph, RD 1619/2012).
• Exchanging a simplified invoice for a full one. If a business customer asks you for a full invoice to replace a receipt or simplified invoice (factura simplificada) that was correct, the full invoice you issue in exchange is not a corrective invoice (art. 15.6). In the Verifactu format it has its own type (F3).
• Lost invoice. If the customer has lost it, you do not issue another one or a corrective invoice: you issue a duplicate marked "duplicado", which has the same effect as the original (art. 14 RD 1619/2012).

Conversely, the regulation is categorical: only invoices issued for the reasons in sections 1 and 2 of art. 15 are corrective invoices (art. 15.6). The corrective series is not for any commercial adjustment: if there is a new transaction, it gets its own ordinary invoice.

Corrective invoice by substitution or by differences: two examples

Art. 15.5 RD 1619/2012 allows the amounts to be shown in two ways: stating the amount of the correction directly, whatever its sign, or showing what the figures look like after the correction and also indicating the amount corrected. The Verifactu technical format (Orden HAC/1177/2024, annex, list L3) gives them names: by substitution (code S) and by differences (code I). Choose whichever is clearer; the effect on the taxable base (base imponible) and on the VAT is the same.

By substitution. The corrective invoice shows what the invoice should have been, with the correct base, rate and VAT amount, and also indicates the amount of the correction. It is the most convenient option when the error affects several figures at once.

Example of a corrective invoice by substitution. On 15 September 2026 you invoice a company for 20 hours of consultancy at 50 €: base 1,000 €, VAT at 21% 210 €, total 1,210 € (invoice A-2026-045). The customer tells you it was 18 hours. You issue corrective invoice R-2026-003, which identifies A-2026-045 and shows:

If the customer has already paid you 1,210 €, you refund 121 €.

By differences. The corrective invoice shows only the change, with its sign. It is the usual option for returns and discounts, because the original invoice was correct when it was issued.

Example of a corrective invoice by differences. In July 2026 you sell goods to a distributor for 2,000 € plus 420 € VAT (21%), 2,420 € in total. In October you grant a 10% discount for the volume purchased. The corrective invoice shows only the difference:

On the fourth-quarter 303, that corrective invoice subtracts 200 € of base and 42 € of VAT. As it is a volume discount, the regulation allows you not to identify the affected invoices one by one: it is enough to state the period it refers to (art. 15.4). In any case, you can correct several invoices in a single document, as long as you identify all of them.

How to issue a factura rectificativa: mandatory content and series

A corrective invoice is, first and foremost, an invoice, so it must meet the requirements of art. 6 (full invoice) or art. 7 (simplified invoice) of the regulation (art. 15.5 RD 1619/2012). Review the basic details in the guide to your first invoice in Spain. On top of that, add the following:

• Specific series. Corrective invoices must be issued in their own invoice series (serie de facturación), as required by art. 6.1.a) 2.º RD 1619/2012, with consecutive numbering within it: for example, R-2026-001, R-2026-002. Never slot them into the ordinary series.
• Identification of the corrected invoice. Number and date of the invoice or invoices you are correcting (art. 15.4). Only for volume discounts, or when the AEAT (the Spanish Tax Agency) authorises it, is it enough to state the period.
• Details of the correction. The description, rate and VAT amount reflect the correction made (art. 15.5), by differences or by substitution, with the appropriate sign.
• Its own issue date, different from that of the original invoice.
• Wording and reason. Art. 15 does not impose a set wording, but labelling the document "Factura rectificativa" and stating the reason (for example, "descuento por volumen, art. 80.Uno.2.º LIVA", meaning volume discount, or "error en el tipo de IVA", meaning wrong VAT rate) helps your customer, your gestor (tax adviser) and the AEAT understand the correction. In Verifactu, the reason is also encoded through the corrective invoice type.
• QR code when you invoice with a system subject to Verifactu and, if the system sends the records to the AEAT, the wording "VERI*FACTU" (art. 6.5).

Correcting a simplified invoice. This is also done with a simplified corrective invoice, in a separate series (art. 7.1.a) 4.º RD 1619/2012). It must include an express and unambiguous reference to the corrected invoice and to the details being changed (art. 7.1.h), and the rate, the consideration and, where applicable, the VAT amount reflect the correction (art. 15.5, third paragraph). In Verifactu it is recorded with type R5.

Time limit for a corrective invoice, and unpaid invoices: how to recover the VAT

General rule. The corrective invoice is issued as soon as you become aware of the reason, provided that no more than four years have passed since the chargeable event (devengo) for the VAT on the transaction or, where applicable, since the circumstances in art. 80 LIVA occurred, such as the return or the discount (art. 15.3 RD 1619/2012 and art. 89.Uno LIVA).

Bad debts. Art. 80.Cuatro LIVA lets you reduce the base when the debt is uncollectable. All of these conditions must be met:

• One year must have passed since the chargeable event without payment. If your turnover in the previous year (the amount of your sales and services that year, excluding VAT, as defined in art. 121 LIVA) did not exceed 6,010,121.04 €, you can choose six months or one year. For instalment sales, the period runs from the unpaid due date.
• The non-payment must be recorded in your VAT registers.
• The customer must be a business or professional or, if they are a private individual, the base of the transaction must exceed 50 €.
• You must have claimed payment through the courts, by notarial demand or by any other means that provides reliable proof of the claim.

Once that six-month or one-year period has passed, you have the following six months to issue the corrective invoice (art. 80.Cuatro.B). You must send it to the customer and be able to prove you did so, and notify the AEAT of the modification electronically, using modelo 952, within one month of issuing it, attaching a copy of the corrective invoice and proof of the claim (art. 24 of the VAT Regulation, RIVA).

Example. On 10 January 2026 (the chargeable event date) you make a sale and invoice 1,000 € plus 210 € VAT to a company that then does not pay. Your 2025 turnover did not exceed 6,010,121.04 € and you opt for six months: the period ends on 10 July 2026. If you have claimed payment in a reliable way, you can issue the corrective invoice for the base of 1,000 € and the VAT of 210 € (on the 303: -1,000 € in box 14 and -210 € in box 15) within the following six months, up to 10 January 2027, and notify it with modelo 952 within the month after its date.

This reduction is not available for debts secured by collateral (garantía real), guaranteed by a surety or insured (to the extent covered), between related persons or entities, or, as a general rule, with customers not established in Spain, the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla (art. 80.Cinco). If you later collect from a business customer, you do not increase the base again; only if you drop the court claim or agree payment after the notarial demand do you issue an upward corrective invoice within one month (art. 80.Cuatro.C).

Insolvency proceedings. If a court order declaring the customer insolvent (concurso) is issued after the chargeable event, you can reduce the base, but no later than two months after the end of the period creditors have to lodge their claims in the insolvency proceedings (art. 80.Tres LIVA, which refers to insolvency law). As well as sending the corrective invoice to the customer, you send a copy to the insolvency administrator within the same period, and notification to the AEAT follows the same one-month procedure (art. 24 RIVA).

How to report the factura rectificativa on the modelo 303

Whoever issues the corrective invoice reflects the correction in their VAT self-assessment return (autoliquidación, the return on which you calculate and pay the tax yourself, such as the 303). According to the official 2026 instructions for the modelo 303, the boxes (casillas) are these:

• Boxes 14 and 15, "Modificación de bases y cuotas" (modification of bases and VAT amounts): base and VAT amount modified for any of the reasons in art. 80 LIVA and any other modification, with the appropriate sign (negative if they reduce) and without a breakdown by VAT rate.
• Boxes 25 and 26: the same modification for the equivalence surcharge (recargo de equivalencia), if you charged it.

The period in which it is reported depends on the reason (art. 89.Cinco LIVA). A "well-founded error of law" (error fundado de derecho) is, in practice, a reasonable interpretation of an unclear rule that later turns out to be wrong, not a simple oversight.

• Reasons in art. 80 (returns, discounts, bad debts, insolvency) or a well-founded error of law: on the 303 for the period in which you issue the corrective invoice.
• Error that increases the VAT for any other reason (for example, a rate applied wrongly by oversight): you file a corrective self-assessment for the original period, with any surcharge and interest due if there has been no request from the AEAT. Work out the cost with the late filing surcharge calculator and review the procedure in the guide on what to do if you missed a tax deadline.
• Error that reduces the VAT: you can request rectification of the self-assessment for the original period (art. 120.3 of the General Tax Act, LGT) or regularise it on the 303 for the period in which you correct it or in later periods, up to one year afterwards; in that case you must refund the customer the VAT overcharged.

Boxes can change from one year to the next: always check that year's help on the AEAT electronic office (sede electrónica). To see how the quarter's result comes out, try the modelo 303 estimator.

What the recipient of the corrective invoice has to do

The corrective invoice also changes your customer's input VAT (IVA soportado) and, when you are the customer, yours. Art. 114 LIVA governs how the deduction is corrected:

• If the corrective invoice reduces the VAT you deducted, correcting the deduction is mandatory. When the reason is one in art. 80 (except your own insolvency, covered in the next point) or a well-founded error of law, you do it on the 303 for the period in which you receive the corrective invoice, in boxes 40 and 41 ("rectificación de deducciones", correction of deductions), with a negative sign. If the reason is different, you file a corrective self-assessment for the period in which you deducted, with surcharge and interest where applicable (art. 114.Dos.2.º).
• Insolvency: if you are declared insolvent and your supplier reduces the base, the correction is made on the 303 for the period in which you deducted, without surcharges or interest (art. 114.Dos.2.º, second paragraph).
• Bad debts and insolvency: if you are a business, you must also notify electronically that you have received the corrective invoice, stating the amount of VAT corrected, within the same deadline as the 303 on which you report it (art. 24.2.b) RIVA).
• If the corrective invoice increases your deductible VAT, you can deduct the difference on the 303 for the period in which you receive it or in later periods, within four years; but if the reason is not one in art. 80, the limit is one year from the issue date of the corrective invoice (art. 114.Dos.1.º).

Record the corrective invoice in your received invoices register, like any other (the details are in the guide to the VAT record books for autónomos, the Spanish self-employed), and adjust the expense in your accounts (see how to keep your books without knowing accounting).

Corrective invoices and Verifactu: correcting is not cancelling

With Verifactu (the Spanish system for tamper-proof invoicing software), what was already a tax rule also becomes a technical rule. Art. 8.2.a) of the Regulation approved by RD 1007/2023 requires records to be unalterable: any correction or cancellation is made through at least one additional later record, so that what was originally recorded is preserved.

• The corrective invoice generates its own issue record. Every invoice, including a corrective one, produces an issue invoicing record (registro de facturación de alta) at the time it is issued or just before (art. 9). That record states that it is corrective, its type and characteristics and, where required, the corrected invoices (art. 10.1.g)).
• Types of corrective invoice. Orden HAC/1177/2024 sets five: R1 (well-founded error of law and art. 80.Uno, Dos and Seis LIVA), R2 (insolvency, art. 80.Tres), R3 (uncollectable debt, art. 80.Cuatro), R4 (all other reasons) and R5 (corrective invoices for simplified invoices), each by substitution (S) or by differences (I).
• The cancellation record is something else. It applies when an invoice has been issued in error (art. 11). Even so, according to the AEAT FAQs, the cancelled invoice keeps its number in the series and both records remain visible. If the transaction did happen and what is wrong is the details or amounts, a corrective invoice is what is required.

Your system must be adapted before 1 January 2027 for corporate income tax payers (for example, SLs, Spanish limited companies) and before 1 July 2027 for everyone else, autónomos included (fourth final provision of RD 1007/2023, as worded by Real Decreto-ley 15/2025). The details are in what Verifactu is and Verifactu for autónomos. If you invoice little, check whether the AEAT's free app is enough for you.

In kontora, the corrective invoice comes from its own series (R) with no gaps in the numbering, linked to the invoice it corrects, and flows into the 303 that the app prepares for you, or your gestor, to file.

Common mistakes when correcting an invoice

• Editing the invoice and resending it with the same number. It breaks the sequence, duplicates an identity and leaves the 303 out of balance (art. 15 RD 1619/2012).
• Changing the number or skipping numbers. The corrective invoice takes a new number in its series; the original keeps its own, and the ordinary series must not be left with gaps.
• Issuing a negative invoice in the ordinary series, without identifying the corrected invoice or explaining the reason. The minus sign is allowed; the lack of a specific series and a reference is not (arts. 6.1.a and 15.4).
• Correcting out of time. More than four years after the chargeable event or, for bad debts, outside the six months following the six-month or one-year period. The same applies if you forget to file modelo 952 within the following month.
• Reducing the base for a bad debt without a reliable claim, or doing so for insured debts, related companies or non-established customers: the law excludes it (art. 80.Cinco LIVA).
• Increasing the VAT charged to a private individual because of your own error that is not an art. 80 reason: it is not allowed (art. 89.Tres.1.º LIVA).
• Not sending the corrective invoice to the customer. The reduction of your base depends on issuing and sending it (art. 24.1 RIVA).
• Reporting the correction in the sales boxes by rate instead of in boxes 14 and 15, or subtracting it twice.
• Online shop: not correcting each return. Every return requires its own corrective invoice for the simplified or full invoice you issued, unless you deduct it on a later order from the same customer at the same VAT rate; we explain this in invoicing in an online shop.

A good habit: keep the document that supports each corrective invoice alongside it (the customer's email, the return note, the discount agreement or the bad-debt claim).

Frequently asked questions

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