If you sell to clients in Spain — or you are a freelancer living here — sooner or later someone will ask you for a factura proforma. It looks like an invoice, it has prices and IVA on it, and yet it is not an invoice. Getting that distinction wrong is one of the most common reasons Spanish freelancers end up with gaps in their invoice numbering, VAT declared in the wrong quarter, or a client who thinks they already have a valid tax document.

This guide explains how a proforma invoice works specifically in Spain: what it legally is, how IVA (Spanish VAT) applies, how it fits with the VeriFactu rules coming in 2027, and the exact moment you must replace it with a real invoice. For the general comparison between both documents, see our main guide on proforma invoice vs invoice.

What a proforma invoice is under Spanish rules

Spain's invoicing rules are set out in the Reglamento de facturación (Real Decreto 1619/2012). That regulation defines what an invoice (factura) must contain and when it must be issued — but it does not regulate the proforma at all. In practice, a proforma is treated as a commercial offer or advance statement: a document that tells the client what they will be charged if the deal goes ahead.

That has three practical consequences:

  • It has no tax effect. A proforma does not create an obligation to pay IVA to the Agencia Tributaria, and your client cannot use it to deduct input VAT.
  • It does not count as income. Nothing on a proforma goes into your quarterly IVA return (Modelo 303) or your income tax prepayments.
  • It does not replace the invoice. Once the sale or service actually happens, you still have to issue an ordinary invoice that meets every legal requirement.

Think of it as a formal quote that happens to be laid out like an invoice. Some businesses in Spain use the words presupuesto (quote) and proforma almost interchangeably; the difference is mostly that a proforma reflects an agreed order rather than an open offer.

When freelancers in Spain typically use a proforma

Proformas are optional — you never have to issue one. They are useful in a handful of recurring situations:

  • Requesting an advance payment. The client wants a document to authorise a deposit before work starts.
  • Customs and international shipments. Goods leaving the EU are often shipped with a proforma so the importer can prepare duties and clearance.
  • Public bodies and large companies. Their purchasing department may need a proforma to open a purchase order or reserve budget.
  • Grants and financing. Banks or subsidy programmes sometimes ask for proformas to justify a planned investment.
  • Agreeing the final amount. When the scope is still moving, a proforma lets the client confirm figures before you lock them into a numbered invoice.

If what you really need is a priced offer the client can accept, a quote is usually the cleaner tool. Our guide on turning quotes into invoices shows that workflow step by step.

How IVA works on a Spanish proforma

You can — and normally should — show IVA on a proforma, so the client sees the full amount they will pay. Just remember that the figure is informative. VAT is accrued (devengo) when the supply takes place or, if earlier, when you receive an advance payment — not when you send the proforma.

A good proforma for a Spanish client normally shows:

  • The taxable base for each line.
  • The IVA rate that will apply (the general rate is 21%, with reduced rates for certain goods and services).
  • Any IRPF withholding (retención) if you are an autónomo invoicing a Spanish business for professional services.
  • The resulting total to pay.

If you are unsure which rate or exemption applies, check our IVA guide for invoicing in Spain, and see what IVA means on a Spanish bill for a plain-English explanation. For withholding, read IRPF withholding on freelance invoices. When in doubt about a specific case, confirm with the Agencia Tributaria or your gestor rather than guessing — a wrong rate on a proforma tends to be copied straight into the real invoice.

Advance payments: the trap most people miss

Here is the key rule: if the client pays you something based on a proforma, IVA becomes due on that amount at the moment of payment. At that point the proforma is no longer enough — you must issue a proper invoice for the advance (often called a factura de anticipo), with its own number from your normal series, and declare that IVA in the quarter you received the money.

When the work is finished, you issue the final invoice for the full amount and deduct the advance already invoiced, so IVA is not charged twice. Skipping the advance invoice is a common source of mismatches between your bank movements and your Modelo 303.

Proforma invoices and VeriFactu (2027)

Spain's anti-fraud invoicing rules — the Reglamento de requisitos de los sistemas informáticos de facturación, better known as VeriFactu — require invoicing software to create a tamper-proof record for every invoice issued. Following the latest postponement, the obligation applies from January 2027 for companies and July 2027 for autónomos and other taxpayers. Our VeriFactu guide covers the full timeline.

Because a proforma is not an invoice, it should not generate a VeriFactu billing record and should not carry the VeriFactu QR code. What matters is how your software treats it:

  • Proformas must live in a separate document type, clearly labelled "Factura proforma", never in your invoice series.
  • They must not consume an invoice number. Spanish invoices need a correlative, gap-free numbering, so a proforma that "uses up" a number and is then discarded leaves a gap that is hard to explain.
  • Converting a proforma into an invoice should create a new invoice with its own number and its own record — not rename the proforma.

The official technical specifications and FAQs are published on the Agencia Tributaria website; check them if your use case is unusual, for example proformas generated automatically by an online shop.

What to include on a proforma for a Spanish client

There is no legal checklist, but a professional proforma mirrors the content of a real invoice so nothing changes when you convert it. Include:

  1. The title "Factura proforma" in a visible place.
  2. Its own reference (for example PF-2026-014), separate from your invoice numbering.
  3. Issue date and validity period of the offer.
  4. Your name or business name, NIF and address.
  5. The client's name, NIF/CIF (or VAT number if they are in another EU country) and address.
  6. A detailed description of goods or services, units and unit prices.
  7. Taxable base, IVA rate and amount, IRPF withholding if applicable, and total.
  8. Payment terms and, if you expect a deposit, the advance amount.
  9. A short note such as "This document is not a valid invoice for tax purposes".

When the time comes to issue the real document, check it against the full list of invoice legal requirements in Spain.

Converting a proforma into a valid invoice

The conversion is where most errors happen. A clean process looks like this:

  1. Confirm the final figures. Update quantities, prices or scope that changed since the proforma was sent.
  2. Issue a new invoice in your ordinary series. It gets the next correlative number and the actual date of the supply or payment.
  3. Reference the proforma if useful. Adding "Ref. proforma PF-2026-014" helps the client's accounts team match the documents.
  4. Account for advances. If you already invoiced a deposit, deduct it from the final invoice.
  5. Archive the proforma as accepted. Keep it with the invoice for your records; never delete or overwrite it.

Mistakes on the final invoice are not fixed by editing it — you need a corrective invoice. If that happens, our guide on facturas rectificativas (in Spanish) walks through the process.

Common mistakes with proformas in Spain

  • Using a proforma as the only document. If the client paid and you never issued an invoice, the income and IVA are undeclared.
  • Numbering proformas in the invoice series. This breaks correlative numbering and becomes a real problem once VeriFactu records are chained.
  • Forgetting the advance invoice. Deposits trigger IVA when paid, not when the project ends.
  • Clients deducting VAT from a proforma. Their accountant will reject it; they need your real invoice.
  • Copying a wrong VAT rate forward. Validate rates and withholding on the proforma so the invoice starts correct.

Frequently asked questions

Is a proforma invoice legally valid in Spain?

It is a valid commercial document, but it has no tax validity. It cannot be used to declare income, deduct IVA or justify an expense as an invoice would.

Do I have to declare a proforma in my VAT return?

No. Only invoices — including advance invoices for any deposit received — go into your Modelo 303.

Can a proforma be paid?

The client can pay based on a proforma, but the moment they do, you must issue an invoice for that amount and declare its IVA.

Does a proforma need a VeriFactu QR code?

No. VeriFactu applies to invoices. A proforma should stay outside your invoice series and should not generate a billing record.

Handle proformas and invoices in one place

Facturi keeps quotes, proformas and invoices as separate document types, so a proforma never touches your invoice numbering. When the client accepts, you convert it into a correctly numbered, VeriFactu-ready invoice with one click, with IVA and IRPF already calculated. Try Facturi free and send your first proforma in minutes.