VeriFactu and WooCommerce: 2027 deadlines and how to prepare your store
The question usually starts like this: “Does VeriFactu become mandatory in 2026 or 2027?”
The confusion is understandable. The rules have been postponed more than once, and many articles, product pages and comparisons still show outdated dates. The current timetable, however, is clear: businesses subject to Spanish Corporation Tax must adapt their invoicing systems before 1 January 2027; most other affected taxpayers, including the majority of self-employed professionals, must do so before 1 July 2027.
The deadline is the easy part. For a WooCommerce store, the more important question is: where does an order actually become an invoice?
It may happen inside WordPress through an invoicing plugin. An external platform may issue the invoice. The store may be connected to an ERP, or invoicing may still depend on a manual process. That answer determines what needs to be adapted.
What VeriFactu actually changes
VeriFactu is the name commonly used for Spain’s regulation governing computerised invoicing systems, approved by Royal Decree 1007/2023 and developed through Order HAC/1177/2024.
The regulation is not simply a requirement to add a QR code to a PDF. The system supporting the invoicing process must generate records that ensure integrity, retention, accessibility, readability, traceability and immutability. Among other requirements, it must create the relevant record when an invoice is issued, link it to the previous record and preserve evidence of cancellations and corrections.
There are two compliant operating modes:
- VERI*FACTU: the system continuously sends invoicing records to the Spanish Tax Agency. Invoices include the required QR code and wording.
- NON-VERI*FACTU: records are not sent continuously, but the system must retain them and apply additional security, signing, monitoring and event-logging measures.
For many small and medium-sized online stores, VERI*FACTU will probably be the simpler mode to operate. Choosing it is not mandatory; it is a technical and business decision that should be made after understanding both options.
The 2027 VeriFactu deadlines
- Before 1 January 2027: taxpayers subject to Spanish Corporation Tax, including Spanish limited companies.
- Before 1 July 2027: the other taxpayers covered by the regulation, including most self-employed professionals.
There are exceptions and special regimes. For example, businesses using Spain’s Immediate Supply of Information system (SII) are outside the RRSIF scope for their own invoices. The Basque Country and Navarre also have their own regional rules, including systems such as TicketBAI. If your situation is not straightforward, your tax adviser should confirm the rules that apply to your business.
Invoicing software manufacturers and vendors were required to offer adapted products from 29 July 2025, subject to the specific provision for certain multi-year maintenance contracts.
Does this affect every WooCommerce store?
Not in exactly the same way. WooCommerce manages orders, but an order is not automatically an invoice.
If WooCommerce only receives the purchase and an adapted external platform issues the invoice, the core compliance responsibility lies within that platform. The store must send the correct data and handle the response properly, but WooCommerce does not necessarily need to become the system that issues the invoice.
If, however, a WordPress plugin assigns the invoice number, creates the document and processes the tax data, that combination becomes a central part of the invoicing system and must be properly adapted.
This is why installing a plugin that adds a QR code to a PDF is not enough. The entire workflow must be mapped first:
- The customer places an order.
- The payment is authorised or confirmed.
- The business determines when the invoice is issued.
- The invoice series and number are assigned.
- The invoicing record is generated and, where applicable, submitted.
- WooCommerce receives the result and makes the invoice available to the customer.
- A subsequent refund triggers the appropriate correction process.
If it is not clear which application is responsible for each step, the store is not ready yet.
What WooCommerce does not handle on its own
WooCommerce provides an excellent foundation for selling, taking payments and managing orders. A standard installation, however, does not guarantee the specific requirements of a compliant computerised invoicing system:
- It does not generate the required invoicing records by default.
- It does not link those records using their digital fingerprints.
- It does not add the required tax QR code to an invoice.
- It does not manage submission to the Spanish Tax Agency on its own.
- It allows orders to be edited, which is normal in ecommerce but different from the controlled process required for invoices and corrections.
- WooCommerce order numbers do not automatically constitute a valid invoice numbering series.
Traditional PDF invoice plugins do not become compliant merely because they generate a PDF. Some vendors have added VeriFactu support or integrations with external services; others remain document generators only. You need to verify the exact product version, how it works and the producer’s responsible declaration.
Three ways to adapt WooCommerce to VeriFactu
1. An adapted invoicing plugin
Invoice issuance remains within the WordPress and WooCommerce ecosystem. This is the most direct integration and may work well for stores with a straightforward workflow.
Check who actually provides the submission service, what happens if its API stops responding, how updates are managed and whether it supports the store’s specific checkout, subscriptions and payment methods.
2. A connected invoicing platform
WooCommerce sends the order data to an external service. That service issues the invoice, generates the invoicing record and either submits or retains it according to the chosen mode.
This approach usually offers more administrative features and separates invoicing from WordPress, although it also introduces an external dependency. The connector is just as important as the platform: it must prevent duplicates, retry failed submissions and return the correct status to WooCommerce.
3. An ERP integrated with WooCommerce
This is the usual route when the store already centralises invoicing, stock, purchasing or accounting in an ERP. In that situation, duplicating tax logic inside WordPress makes little sense. The priority is ensuring that the integration sends every piece of data and every event required by the ERP.
The Spanish Tax Agency also provides a free VERI*FACTU invoicing application. It is a genuine compliant option for professionals and businesses with low invoicing volumes, but it does not automatically integrate the workflow of a WooCommerce store. It may work for very low volumes; manually transferring every sale is usually impractical for a store receiving regular orders.
Do not search for a plugin “approved by the Spanish Tax Agency”
This wording causes considerable commercial confusion. VeriFactu does not have an official list of WooCommerce plugins approved or certified by the Spanish Tax Agency.
System certification is based on a responsible declaration issued by the producer for each product and version. When comparing solutions, request this declaration and confirm that it covers the exact version you intend to install. A website claiming “VeriFactu compatible” is not a substitute for that documentation.
Where stores usually run into problems
The connection to the Spanish Tax Agency is not usually the hardest part. Problems tend to appear at the edges of the process:
- Time of issue: issuing an invoice when the order is created is not the same as doing so when payment is confirmed or the order is shipped.
- Retries and duplicates: a payment gateway, webhook or scheduled task may run more than once. The integration must be idempotent.
- Full and partial refunds: clicking “refund” in WooCommerce does not, by itself, guarantee that the correct tax adjustment has been generated.
- Customer data: when a full invoice is required, the checkout must collect and validate the necessary tax details without damaging conversion for private customers.
- Series and numbering: these must be defined before migration and should not be improvised from the order ID.
- Manual, telephone and imported orders: these are also part of the workflow and are often missed during testing.
- Subscriptions and automatic renewals: every payment may generate a new transaction without human intervention.
- International sales: OSS, currencies, exemptions and B2B rules require different data and tax treatments.
- Legacy customisations: modified checkouts, abandoned plugins and inherited code can break an integration even when the standard demo works.
What to check before choosing a solution
- Which system legally and technically issues the invoice.
- Whether it supports VERI*FACTU, NON-VERI*FACTU or both.
- Whether a responsible declaration is available for the contracted version.
- How it handles full invoices, simplified invoices, corrective invoices and cancellations.
- What happens during an internet outage or API error.
- How it prevents duplicates when WooCommerce repeats a request.
- Whether the complete workflow can be tested before production activation.
- Whether it supports your payment gateways, subscriptions, checkout and current plugins.
- How data can be exported and what happens if you change provider.
- The full cost, including licence fees, submissions, support, updates and configuration.
A realistic timetable that avoids a last-minute rush
If the store is operated by a company subject to Corporation Tax, the goal should not be to “install something before 1 January”. The goal should be to reach December 2026 with a tested system that the team already knows how to use.
A reasonable timetable would be to select the architecture and provider in September, integrate during October, test orders and refunds in November and avoid critical changes during the Christmas sales period.
Self-employed professionals have until July 2027, but that extra time is best used for careful testing. The week before the requirement begins is not the time to discover that partial refunds do not work.
Adapt the invoicing process, not just the plugin
After more than twenty years working with WordPress and WooCommerce, one thing is clear to me: a real store rarely resembles a vendor’s standard demo. It contains legacy plugins, automations, custom fields, different payment methods and business decisions that affect the entire integration.
This is why a VeriFactu project should begin with a review of the current workflow, not with the purchase of a licence.
If you want to identify which system is actually issuing invoices for your WooCommerce store, choose the right approach and understand what must be tested before 2027, I can review your store and provide a practical adaptation plan.
Content updated on 28 August 2026. This article is for general information and does not replace tax advice for your specific business.