Retail in Spain: adapting your store and POS to VeriFactu

Retail in Spain: adapting your store and POS to VeriFactu

Fashion, hardware, books, groceries: if you run a physical shop in Spain, the invoicing systems regulation (Royal Decree 1007/2023) applies to you right now. It has been in force for companies since 1 January 2026 and for the self-employed since 1 July 2026. Your till is a SIF — a regulated invoicing system — and it must meet specific requirements: records chained with a SHA-256 hash, a mandatory QR code on every receipt, an event log, and guaranteed inalterability.

The sales receipt is a simplified invoice with a QR code

Every counter sale is documented with a simplified invoice: the receipt. Under the regulation, that receipt must carry a QR code the customer can use to verify it with the Spanish tax agency (AEAT), and behind every receipt there must be a billing record chained to the previous one. If your POS prints receipts without a QR code and without generating those records, it is not compliant — and using non-compliant software can cost you up to €50,000 per financial year (Article 201 bis of the General Tax Law).

Returns and exchanges: where corrective invoices rule

Retail lives on returns and exchanges, and this is the biggest mindset shift: a return is never handled by deleting the original receipt. The original record is untouchable; the correct move is a corrective invoice (or the corresponding registered cancellation), which is itself chained and traceable.

• Full refund: a corrective invoice for the full amount, linked to the original receipt.
• Product exchange: a corrective invoice for the returned item plus a new receipt for the replacement, or a corrective for the difference, depending on your workflow.
• Store credit vouchers: the voucher is a commercial arrangement; the tax side still requires the proper corrective when applicable.

The goal is a chain of records that tells the whole story: sale, return, new sale.

Mixed sales: counter plus online

Many shops sell both in-store and through a website. The regulation does not care about the channel: every invoice or receipt must come from a compliant system, whether it is the physical POS or the online sales platform. Watch these points:

• Separate invoice series per channel (one for the shop, one for the web) to keep numbering clean and traceable.
• Consistent chaining per issuing system: each system must chain its own records without gaps.
• Coherent handling of returns across channels, for example when an online purchase is returned at the counter.

Old hardware: what you can keep

Good news: compliance lives in the software, not the metal. In most cases you can keep:

• Cash drawer, receipt printer and barcode scanner, as long as the printer renders the QR code legibly.
• Screen or tablet, if it runs up-to-date software.
• Scales and peripherals connected through standard protocols.

What usually has to go is the legacy till software that cannot generate chained records, QR codes or event logs. If your POS is a PC running an unsupported local program, the practical fix is replacing the program — not refitting the whole shop.

A 5-step adaptation checklist

1. Audit what you have: identify the software running your till and your web store, and get written confirmation from each vendor about RD 1007/2023 compliance. 2. Choose your mode: VeriFactu (continuous, voluntary transmission of records to the AEAT at the moment of issue) or non-VeriFactu (signed local storage plus event log, with mandatory handover if the AEAT requests it). For most retailers, continuous transmission keeps life simpler. 3. Define your series: shop, online, correctives — before the first invoice on the new system. 4. Train the team on returns: no deleting, ever; always a registered corrective or cancellation. 5. Run a test sale and a test return, then check the QR code, the chaining and the corrective record.

The practical takeaway

Adapting is not just about avoiding a fine: it means running a till whose records nobody can question. A verifiable QR receipt and an unbroken record chain turn any inspection into a short formality. If your POS vendor has not raised any of this with you yet, that silence is itself the signal to act.