Invoice What Is An Invoice?

An invoice is a document of a commercial nature that indicates the sale of a good or service. It has legal and fiscal validity.

An invoice is a document of a commercial nature that indicates a sale of a good or service and that, among other things, must include all the information on the operation.

We can say that it is an accreditation of a transfer of a product or service after the purchase of the same.

Who is required to make invoices?

Every entrepreneur or self-employed is obliged to make invoices for the sale of goods or services.

It is also required in the case of advances, except in the case of intra-community sales of exempt goods.

Specifically, all entrepreneurs or freelancers must issue invoices in the following cases:

• When your client is another entrepreneur or freelancer.
• When your client (an individual) requests it for tax purposes.
• For the export of goods that are exempt from VAT (except in duty-free shops).
• For intra-community operations.
• When your client is the Public Administration or a legal entity that is not an entrepreneur or self-employed (in the first case, an electronic invoice must be issued).
• For the sale of assembly or installation goods before they are made available in the territory where the tax applies.
• For sales that are made at a distance and sales subject to special taxes.
• The biller should always keep a copy and give another to their customer.

Regulation of the mandatory contents of an invoice

The contents of an invoice template are predetermined by the billing regulations.

These contents are mandatory for anyone who has to issue an invoice that justifies the sale of a good or service.

The omission of one of its mandatory contents can nullify the validity before the Tax Agency, which is the supervisory body for compliance with the regulations.

Obligation to issue an invoice

Issuing invoices is mandatory to record and be able to verify the completion of the commercial operation.

Failure to issue the online invoice receipt can mean a tax crime, prosecuted by the tax authorities of the country.

Required information for an invoice

• To issue an invoice you need to include some basic information; mandatory for its validity:
• Invoice number (correlative to the numerical series).
• Name or business name of the buyer and seller, whether it is a company or a natural person.
• NIF of the buyer and seller as well as their fiscal address.
• Expedition date.
• Date of operations when this does not coincide with the date of issue.
• Description of the good or service.
• The price per unit and the price before taxes of each of the goods or services.
• If there is any discount or advance, indicate it.
• Taxes: the Value Added Tax and the type that is applied as well as the IRPF.
• The tax fee.
• The total amount.
• If the invoice is exempt from VAT, it must be stated citing the VAT law and the article for which it is exempt (for example, "Invoice exempts from VAT, according to art. 20. One. 26º").
• In cases of billing by the recipient or investment of the taxpayer, it must be mentioned.
• In case of belonging to the special regime for used goods or the special regime for travel agencies, it must also be stated on the invoice.

Invoice Types

Basically, there are two types of invoice:

• The full bill.
• The simplified invoice.

The contents of the first are expressed in the previous section. As for the simplified invoice, the contents are the same except that:

• The simplified invoice does not include customer data and;
• VAT can be indicated without itemizing and be included in the final price. The type of VAT, however, must be indicated.
• All entrepreneurs or self-employed workers authorized by the Department of Tax Management can issue simplified invoices.

Simplified invoices can also be issued in the following cases:

• When the amount of the invoice does not exceed 400 euros (VAT included).
• To issue corrective invoices.
• For certain operations, less than 3,000 euros (VAT included), for which the billing regulations previously in force (Royal Decree 1496/2003) allowed the issuance of tickets.

In addition to these two main types, there are other types of invoices that are mentioned below:

• The proforma invoice, which, unlike an ordinary invoice (whether simplified or complete), has no fiscal validity.
• The rectifying invoice, to modify, pay or cancel an invoice issued.
• The recapitulative invoice. It collects in the same document all the invoices sent to a client in a certain period.
• The invoice duplicate. It has the same value as the original invoice, so it should not be confused with a copy.
• The electronic invoice, for sales of services or goods to the Public Administration.

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