Verifactu penalties: what the 50,000 euro fine punishes and how to avoid it

Verifactu penalties: what article 201 bis says

Article 201 bis of the Ley General Tributaria was added by Law 11/2021, the so-called anti-fraud law, and has been in force since 11 October 2021. The consolidated text has not changed since. It defines two infringements, both serious (section 3), with fixed fines that do not depend on what you invoice:

A nuance that is often told wrongly: the 1,000 euro fine is not for the user. It is the manufacturer's fine for selling without a certificate. The user, where applicable, faces the 50,000 euro one. And the "certification" the law speaks of is the producer's own declaración responsable (its formal statement of compliance) (art. 13.1 of Royal Decree 1007/2023); there is no AEAT certificate. The general summary of Verifactu, the verifiable invoicing system created by that royal decree, is in what Verifactu is.

Exactly what conduct is punished

For the manufacturer or marketer, section 1 lists six cases. It is an infringement to produce or sell accounting, invoicing or management systems that:

• a) allow keeping different sets of accounts for the same activity and year;
• b) allow not recording, in whole or in part, transactions carried out;
• c) allow recording transactions other than those actually entered;
• d) allow altering transactions already recorded;
• e) do not meet the technical specifications that guarantee the integrity, keeping, accessibility, legibility, traceability and inalterability of the records (art. 29.2.j));
• f) are not certified when they are required to be.

For the user, section 2 punishes having a system, not just using it. The AEAT, the Spanish tax agency, interprets in its frequently asked questions that this is possession "as regards the invoicing functionality": if after your deadline you keep a non-adapted program capable of issuing invoices, mere possession is already an infringement, although the AEAT says it will assess it according to the conduct and responsibility of the obligated person.

What about altering or deleting records? If you tamper with a certified system, it fits the same section 2 ("when the certified devices have been altered or modified"). If what you destroy are invoices or books, the usual infringements also come into play, which you will see below. The law prevents one specific double penalty: someone already penalised as a manufacturer cannot also be penalised for possession of the same system.

The 50,000 euro Verifactu fine: how it is calculated

The user's fine is fixed: 50,000 euros per year for having a non-compliant or altered system (article 201 bis, sections 2 and 4, LGT). It is not graded by invoicing volume or by the harm to the tax authorities. An autónomo who invoices 20,000 euros a year and a company that invoices millions face, on paper, the same figure. If the infringement spans two years, that is two fines.

That it is fixed does not mean it is automatic. Tax infringements require intent or fault "with any degree of negligence" (art. 183.1 LGT), and there is no liability when "the necessary diligence" has been shown, for example by acting on a reasonable interpretation of the rule or following criteria published by the Administration (art. 179.2.d)). In practice, having asked for and kept your program's declaración responsable is the best proof of diligence you have.

On the manufacturer's side, the 150,000 euros (article 201 bis, sections 1 and 4, LGT) are multiplied by each year with sales and by each different type of system: three non-compliant products sold over two years would be six fines.

From when they can be imposed

The article has existed since 2021, but for there to be an infringement the obligation being breached has to exist first. The regulation makes that obligation specific, with different dates:

• Manufacturers and marketers: they must offer fully adapted products within nine months of the entry into force of the technical order (final provision four of Royal Decree 1007/2023), that is, from 29 July 2025, as the AEAT confirms. Since then, making or selling non-compliant systems can already be an infringement under section 1.
• Companies: they must have the system adapted before 1 January 2027.
• Autónomos and other obligated persons: before 1 July 2027.

The dates for users were set by Royal Decree-law 15/2025; the history of the delays is in the Verifactu postponement. Before your date, having an old program does not expose you to the possession fine. A useful point on liability: according to the AEAT, if the manufacturer offers you the adapted version and you do not install it, it is exempt and you are liable (frequently asked questions on the declaración responsable).

How it fits with other penalties: invoices and books

Article 201 bis punishes the system. Invoices and books have their own infringements, which existed long before and remain unchanged:

The article 201 penalties rise by 100% if the breach is substantial (201.5), that is, if it affects more than 20% of the transactions or makes it impossible to know their amount (art. 187.1.c)). They are separate infringements: a non-compliant system does not automatically make you an infringer under article 201, but deleting invoices or running a "black box" cash book can add them up. If your doubts are about what each invoice must contain, see your first invoice, and on the books, the autónomo's record books.

Reducing the fine: agreement and prompt payment

Article 188 LGT provides for two reductions, and they do not apply in the same way:

• Agreement (30%): only for the penalties of articles 191 to 197, which are those tied to failing to pay, filing wrongly or obtaining or claiming undue refunds and benefits. It does not apply to 201 bis, nor to 200 or 201.
• Prompt payment (40%): it applies to the penalty for "any infringement", including the Verifactu one, if you pay the full amount in the voluntary period and do not appeal or challenge the penalty.

With that reduction, the 50,000 euro fine falls to 30,000 euros, and the 150,000 euro one to 90,000 euros. The period is that of article 62.2: if you are notified between the 1st and the 15th of the month, until the 20th of the following month; if you are notified between the 16th and the last day, until the 5th of the second following month. It also holds if within that period you request a deferral or instalments with a guarantee or surety insurance and you comply with it (how to ask for them, in deferring or paying in instalments). If you appeal afterwards, they claim the reduced part back.

Appealing or paying is a decision best taken with an adviser and with the file in front of you: if you believe you acted with diligence, the 40% discount may not be worth it.

How to show that your program complies

There is no public register of approved programs. The proof is documentary and it is in your hands:

• The producer's declaración responsable, which must be in writing and visible in the system itself, in each version, and handed to the client on acquiring it (art. 13.2 of the regulation). Its minimum content is in article 15 of Order HAC/1177/2024 and it starts with the title "DECLARACIÓN RESPONSABLE DEL SISTEMA INFORMÁTICO DE FACTURACIÓN".
• That it matches your version. You can ask the producer or the marketer for it, who are obliged to keep those of all versions (art. 13.3).
• If you developed the program yourself, you are the producer and you must sign it, according to the AEAT.
• The free AEAT app complies by design; if you use it, there is no declaration to ask for (when it is enough).

Keep a dated copy of each declaration with your tax documentation. If a vendor talks to you about an "AEAT certificate", be suspicious: it does not exist.

What to do if you find your program does not comply

1. Check the date. If your date has not yet arrived (1 January 2027 for companies, 1 July 2027 for autónomos), you are not in breach as a user: you have time to change.
2. Ask the manufacturer about the adapted version. If it exists, install it and keep its declaración responsable.
3. If your date has already passed, stop issuing with it today. As an immediate bridge you have the free AEAT app.
4. Export the history and uninstall or lock the old program. That is what the AEAT considers most advisable; keeping it is acceptable only if you can show that it no longer issues invoices.
5. Do not delete or renumber invoices. Those already issued are still yours and you must keep them; destroying them would bring you under article 201.
6. Document what you did and when. That trail is your diligence argument under art. 179.2.d).

Bear in mind that there is no "voluntary regularisation" of 201 bis like that of self-assessments with a surcharge under article 27 (what to do if you missed a deadline). If a notice reaches you, reply on time with your documentation (how to reply to a notice). And if you invoiced with a spreadsheet with macros, first see Verifactu and Excel.

Frequently asked questions

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