Since July 1, 2018, companies that submit invoices to public administrations for an amount greater than 5,000 euros must invoice electronically and submit their invoices through the “General Point of Entry of Electronic Invoices” of the website of the administration with which they have contracted. This obligation will also extend to subcontractors who, in turn, are hired by those who carry out works and services for the Administration.

Entry into force of the new Law

According to the new Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts, from July 1, 2018, companies that are subcontracted to work with the Administration must also invoice electronically.

Specifically, from the aforementioned date, companies that submit invoices to public administrations for an amount greater than 5,000 euros must invoice electronically and submit their invoices through the “
General Point of Entry of Electronic Invoices
” of the website of the administration with which they have contracted. This obligation will also extend to subcontractors who, in turn, are hired by those who carry out works and services for the Administration.

Thus,when a contractor has obtained a contract to provide goods or services to an Administration, and the latter, in turn, goes to a self-employed person or SME, to cover part of that contract,this person will become a subcontractor and will be subject to this new obligation.

According to the new Public Procurement Law,since July 1 those self-employed and SMEs that act as subcontractors, and provided that the final recipient is the Public Administration, they shall be obliged to submit an invoice in invoice format for the services rendered or goods delivered to the main contractor.

The subcontractor must deliver the supporting document to the contractor through a Registry,and the contractor will do the same for its transmission to the administrative body to which the processing of the invoice corresponds.

For now the FACe (General Point of Entry of Electronic Invoices) is the general point of entry of electronic invoices of the General Administration of the State.

The subcontractor will have to submit the electronic invoice in a repository called the Unified Electronic Registry (theoretically it should be available from June 30). The main contractor will access the new unified electronic Registry and will be the one who invoices it to the Public Administration by electronic invoice, the latter as usual.

Main activity

The obligation to invoice electronically will only apply in the case of contractors who subcontract their main activity and have obtained authorization from the Administration to do so. Entities that provide and-complement services to such contractors without being directly involved in the public work or service may continue to resend their invoices normally.

Requirements

The requirements for subcontractors to invoice electronically are the same as those met by contractors:

  • Invoices must be of an amount greater than 5,000 euros.
  • Professionals and individual entrepreneurs will be able to continue invoicing on paper (this change only affects companies). However, since the new system increases the chances of charging on time, it is advisable to use it in any case.

How does mandatory electronic invoicing work?

An electronic invoice has to meet the same requirements as an invoice in paper format. The document must contain the fields required for any invoice and be transmitted from one computer to another collecting the consent of both parties.

  • Readability:that is, that it can be read without difficulty. With the electronic document it is easier to guarantee than in paper format.
  • Authenticity of the origin of the invoice: implies that the identity of the supplier of the goods or provider of the invoiced services must be guaranteed, and that of the issuer of the invoice, if it is not the same.
  • Integrity of the content of the invoice: it must be possible to guarantee that the content of the invoice has not been modified.

These changes, which came into force on July 1, will facilitate the processing of invoices between contractors and subcontractors. Benefiting both parties in saving money and time and generating the same format as the rest of European countries, facilitating commercial transactions between countries. As well as it should be noted, the creation of a single registry where you can find electronic documents quickly and easily and be able to present them to the Administration in an agile and practical way.

If you have any questions about this type of billing, you can contact us, and our advisors and consultants for companies will help you solve any question.