You’ve already paid the tax office the VAT on an invoice you haven’t been paid for.And getting it back has an expiry date.
An unpaid invoice isn’t just missing money: deadlines start running to recover the VAT, to deduct the loss and to stop the debt becoming time-barred. Remitide calculates them invoice by invoice, based on what’s still outstanding, and warns you before they expire.
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F-2026-0198 · overdue since 09/04/2026
€4,840.00 outstanding
- Recover the VATArt. 80.Four of the Spanish VAT Act (Law 31/2022)Open nowby 10/09/2027
- Limitation period for the debtArts. 1964 and 1967 of the Spanish Civil CodeWithin the periodby 09/04/2031
- Deduct the loss from your taxesArt. 13.1 of the Spanish Corporate Income Tax ActNot yetyear end 31/12/2026
Calculated with the same code as the tracker, for a made-up invoice as at 29 September 2026. Guidance only.
Step by step
Every overdue invoice, with its own clock.
Step 1
It starts from your invoices
It takes the transaction date, the due date, the VAT breakdown and what’s still outstanding on each invoice. If part has been paid, it works with what’s left.
Step 2
It calculates each deadline
When you can start and when you must finish adjusting the VAT taxable base, the limitation reference date and the first tax year end at which you could deduct the loss.
Step 3
It warns you in time
Each deadline shows whether you can’t act yet, whether it’s open or whether it expires in 30 days or less. Anything urgent appears on the dashboard.
Step 4
You take it to your accountant
With the rule behind each deadline alongside it and what’s at stake. The corrective invoice, form 952 or the formal demand are done by you or your adviser.
Legal deadlines on unpaid invoices
An unpaid invoice is a ticking clock.
It’s not just the missing money: deadlines are running that, if you let them pass, cost you VAT, interest and rights. Remitide works them out invoice by invoice, based on what’s still owed.
Day 0
The invoice falls due
Between businesses, payment terms can’t exceed 60 days from delivery.
Spain’s Late Payment Act (Law 3/2004), art. 4
Day 1
Interest and €40 start to accrue
Late-payment interest (the ECB rate plus 8 points) and €40 per invoice in collection costs, without having to claim them expressly.
Law 3/2004, arts. 7 and 8
6 months
You can recover the VAT
With a formal, provable claim, you reduce the taxable base: 6 months from when the VAT was due, or 1 year if your turnover exceeded €6,010,121.04.
Spanish VAT Act (Law 37/1992), art. 80.Four
31 December
The loss can be deducted
If 6 months have passed since the due date at the close of the financial year, the unpaid debt can be deducted for Spanish corporate income tax.
Law 27/2014, art. 13.1
3 or 5 years
The debt can become time-barred
Generally after 5 years; in some cases, after 3. An email reminder may not interrupt the limitation period.
Spanish Civil Code, arts. 1964 and 1967
Indicative deadlines under current Spanish law. Check them with your accountant: Remitide doesn’t file taxes or chase payments on your behalf. The invoice-by-invoice detail, from Professional.
The rules it applies
Only current law, with the article behind it.
Deadlines in months and years are counted from date to date (art. 5 of the Spanish Civil Code): if the final month doesn’t have that day, the last day of the month applies.
Recovering the VAT on a bad debt
Art. 80.Four of the Spanish VAT Act: you can adjust the taxable base once 6 months have passed since the VAT became chargeable if your turnover in the previous year was no more than €6,010,121.04, or 1 year if it was more. You must have claimed payment through the courts or by another verifiable formal demand; the corrective invoice is issued within the following 6 months and reported on form 952.
Customer in insolvency proceedings
Art. 80.Three of the Spanish VAT Act: the corrective invoice can’t be issued more than two months after the end of the period for filing claims, which is one month from publication in the BOE, Spain’s Official State Gazette (art. 28.1.4 of the consolidated Spanish Insolvency Act).
Limitation period for the debt
Generally 5 years (art. 1964 of the Spanish Civil Code); in some cases, 3 (art. 1967). The 5-year date is shown as a reference, with a warning about the 3. It’s interrupted by a formal demand, the debtor acknowledging what they owe or a partial payment; an email reminder may not be enough.
Deducting the loss
Art. 13.1 of the Spanish Corporate Income Tax Act (and the equivalent rule in IRPF, Spanish income tax): you can deduct it if, when the tax falls due (usually 31 December), 6 months have passed since the due date.
Customers that aren’t businesses
If the customer isn’t acting as a business or professional, the taxable base of the transaction must be more than €50.00 to adjust the VAT.
No VAT breakdown, no estimate
If an invoice doesn’t show the VAT separately, it isn’t estimated: this is flagged and the other deadlines are calculated.
Indicative deadlines under current Spanish law. Check them with your accountant: Remitide doesn’t file taxes or chase payments on your behalf.
In the app
Every deadline across your receivables, on one screen.
In Invoices › Legal deadlines you see the VAT you can still recover, which deadlines expire soon and what to do with each invoice.
Interactive demo with made-up data: click anything you like, nothing leaves your browser.
What about your invoicing software?
Your software knows when the invoice is due. These deadlines depend on other dates.
The date the VAT became chargeable, the publication of insolvency proceedings, the tax year end, the last partial payment: the clock on an unpaid invoice is worked out by combining data that isn’t on any single screen.
Working it out by handThe deadline to recover the VAT is calculated invoice by invoice from when the VAT became chargeable, and it changes with your turnover.
With Remitide on topEvery overdue invoice shows when you can start and when you must finish adjusting the taxable base, and how much VAT is at stake.
Working it out by handIf the customer enters insolvency proceedings, the VAT deadline is no longer the general one: it depends on the period for filing claims.
With Remitide on topThe insolvency date, confirmed from insolvency monitoring or entered by hand, recalculates the deadlines for your claim and for the VAT.
Working it out by handA partial payment or a formal demand changes the limitation reference date.
With Remitide on topThe last partial payment restarts the limitation reference date for that invoice.
Indicative deadlines under current Spanish law. Check them with your accountant: Remitide doesn’t file taxes or chase payments on your behalf.
Which plan includes it
From the Professional plan.
The invoice-by-invoice detail, with each deadline and the rule behind it, from Professional. On the lower plans you see the total recoverable VAT across your receivables.
14 days free, no card needed, with the full plan of your choice. When you subscribe, a 30-day guarantee on your first payment.
See all plans and pricing| Plan | Deadlines invoice by invoice |
|---|---|
| Starter€19.99/month + VAT | — |
| Essential€29.99/month + VAT | — |
| Plus€45.99/month + VAT | — |
| Professional€69.99/month + VAT | |
| Advanced€99.99/month + VAT | |
| Business€149.99/month + VAT |
Frequently asked questions
What people usually ask.
Does Remitide file form 952 or the corrective invoice for me?
No. Indicative deadlines under current Spanish law. Check them with your accountant: Remitide doesn’t file taxes or chase payments on your behalf. It tells you which deadline is running, until when and what’s at stake, so that you or your adviser can act in time.
Does a Remitide reminder count as a formal demand?
We don’t assume so. An email reminder may not be enough to recover the VAT or to interrupt the limitation period. That usually takes a burofax (Spanish certified letter), a notarial demand or court action: check with your adviser.
How does it know whether my turnover is above the threshold?
You tell it in your company details, in Settings. If your turnover in the previous year was more than €6,010,121.04, the waiting period to recover the VAT is 1 year instead of 6 months.
Why does the limitation period show 5 years if it’s sometimes 3?
Because which one applies depends on the type of debt and the customer. The 5-year date is shown as a reference, with a warning that in some cases it’s 3 years. It never claims to know which one is yours.
What if the invoice gets paid?
A paid invoice has no unpaid-invoice deadlines: it drops off the list. If part of it is paid, everything is recalculated on what’s left.
Keep exploring
Everything else Remitide does.
- Reminders and paymentAutomatic remindersSequences by tone, age and customer type, from your own inbox and with your signature.See the feature
- Reminders and paymentOne-click customer repliesYour customer says whether they’ve paid, when they’ll pay or what’s missing, and follow-up adjusts.See the feature
- Reminders and paymentOne-click paymentA payment link and your IBAN in every reminder. The money goes straight to your account.See the feature
- When an invoice gets complicatedCredit notes and corrective invoicesCredit and debit notes deducted before anything is chased.See the feature
- When an invoice gets complicatedInsolvency monitoringSpain’s Official Companies Gazette (BORME) checked against your customers every day, with reminders paused once confirmed.See the feature
- Control and teamForecast and DSOOpen receivables, ageing, DSO against agreed terms and cash coming in week by week.See the feature
- Control and teamTeam and account managersWho handles each customer, who signs and which reminders are waiting for approval.See the feature
- Control and teamConnectionsYour invoicing software, read-only, or a CSV or Excel file from any of them.See the feature
- Control and teamAI assistantAsk about your receivables and prepare actions that you always confirm.See the feature
- For firmsDashboard for accounting firmsReceivables for all your client companies in one dashboard, with whatever access each one gives you.See Remitide for accounting firms
Don’t let a deadline slip just because you couldn’t see it.
Connect your invoicing software and see today how much VAT on your overdue invoices you can still recover.
If you’re not satisfied within 30 days of the first payment for your first subscription, we’ll refund that payment in full and cancel the subscription. Guarantee terms