On September 29, 2022, Law 18/2022, of September 28, 2022, on the creation and growth of companies, was published in the BOE.
This law aims to promote the growth and creation of companies through measures such as:
- speeding up the incorporation of limited companies, reducing the minimum capital required for their incorporation from 3,000 to 1 € (with special regulation on companies incorporated for less than 3,000 €),
- improve regulation by eliminating obstacles to the development of certain economic activities,
- reduce commercial delinquency,
- facilitating access to more and better means of financing,
- greater control of tax fraud, which includes, among other measures, the regulation of information on the average payment period and the introduction of mandatory electronic invoicing.
The lasto f these is intended to help companies reduce their transaction costs and facilitate transparency in commercial transactions, as well as to effectively combat late payment in commercial operations, since it obliges companies to provide information on effective payment periods. It also introduces an incentive, as companies that do not comply with payment deadlines will not be able to obtain, for example, public subsidies.
The main new features of Law 18/2022 with respect to electronic invoicing are as follows:
- Mandatory issuance, remittance and receipt of electronic invoices between entrepreneurs and professionals in their commercial relations with other entrepreneurs and professionals
- This obligation will be extended to relations with individuals when they expressly request it or give their consent, regardless of the size of their workforce or their annual volume of operations. To this end, they must provide users with access through free programs.
Travel agencies, transport services and retail trade activities are exempted from this obligation, provided that they have not contracted their services by electronic means.
- The technological solutions and electronic invoicing platforms must guarantee their interconnection and interoperability free of charge, i.e. they must be functional and accessible, and must not incur additional costs for this purpose
- For a period of four years after issuing electronic invoices, recipients may request a copy of them without incurring additional costs. In addition, this period is not reduced because the client has stopped working with the company or revoked its consent to issue electronic invoices
- Electronic invoices must in all cases comply with the specific regulations on invoicing.
In order to ensure compliance with these measures, the Administration establishes penalties of up to 10,000 € in the event of non-compliance with this electronic invoicing requirement for the obliged companies.
Concerning the entry into force of this regulation, with respect to electronic invoicing, different deadlines are established according to the size of the companies: 12 months for companies with a turnover of more than eight million euros, and 24 months for the rest.
