Do I have to give the guest at my tourist flat an invoice? When it is mandatory, what it must include and the receipt the Junta requires

Short answer: it depends on whether you provide hotel services. If you rent like almost everyone does (cleaning at check-in and check-out, no cleaning or linen changes during the stay), the rental is exempt from VAT and you are not obliged to invoice a private tourist (art. 3.1.a of the Invoicing Regulation). You do have to issue one, exempt and stating why, if the guest is a company, a professional travelling for work or a public authority, or if they ask for it in order to exercise a tax right. If you provide hotel services, there is always an invoice, with 10 % VAT. And, apart from the Tax Agency, Andalusian rules always oblige you to hand over a payment receipt with minimum content.

Why is there no obligation with a private tourist?

The Invoicing Regulation requires all transactions to be invoiced, exempt ones included (art. 2.1), but then removes that obligation for transactions exempt under article 20 of the VAT Act (art. 3.1.a), except for a list of cases in which housing rentals are not included (art. 20.One.23). A tourist rental without hotel services is exempt precisely under that article (Is there VAT on holiday rentals?). Result: you do not have to invoice a tourist who comes on holiday.

When is it mandatory?

Even if the rental is exempt, an invoice is mandatory (art. 2.2 of the regulation) when the guest is:

• A company or a professional acting as such: a sales rep, a technician on assignment, a company housing its workers.
• A company or association even if it is not acting as a business, or a public authority.
• Anyone who asks for it in order to exercise a tax right (for example, to deduct the expense).

In practice: if someone asks you for an invoice with a tax ID number (NIF or CIF), issue it.

What must the invoice include?

It is a full invoice (art. 6 of the regulation) with:

• Number and, where applicable, series, consecutive (no gaps).
• Date of issue and date of the stay if different.
• Your details: name and surnames or company name, tax ID (NIF) and address.
• Guest's details: name or company name, tax ID and address.
• Description: «Accommodation in tourist home [address], from [date] to [date]», with the registration code.
• Amount.
• If it is exempt, the reference to the exemption: for example, «Operación exenta de IVA, art. 20.Uno.23º de la Ley 37/1992» (VAT-exempt transaction, art. 20.One.23 of Law 37/1992). An exempt invoice does not include VAT: neither added nor «included».
• If you provide hotel services: tax base, rate (10 %) and VAT amount shown separately.

Deadline: at the time of the transaction; if the customer is a company or a professional, before the 16th of the following month at the latest (art. 11). Keep a copy of each invoice for the tax limitation period, which is four years (art. 19).

Can I issue a receipt or simplified invoice?

Only if you provide hotel services (a transaction with VAT) and the total does not exceed €400 including VAT (art. 4). The €3,000 limit you often see is for bars and restaurants: the Directorate General for Taxation said in 2026 that accommodation does not fall under it (binding ruling V0950-26). A simplified invoice includes the number, date, your details, the service, the VAT rate and the total; the customer's details only if they ask for them (art. 7).

What if the booking comes from Booking or Airbnb?

• Your invoice to the guest is still your responsibility (or your manager's, if they are the operator): the rules are the same as for a direct booking. The receipt the platform sends the guest is not your invoice.
• The platform invoices you for its commission, with 21 % VAT (VAT on commissions).
• If the guest asks for an invoice through the platform chat, ask them for their tax details (name or company name, tax ID and address) and an email, and send it yourself.

What is the receipt the Junta requires?

It is something else, from tourism rules, and it is mandatory always, whether or not there is an invoice. Decree 28/2016 (art. 6.2.e) requires a payment receipt to be handed over with:

1. Identification of the operator.
2. Identification of the home and its registration code in the Andalusian Tourism Register.
3. Identification of the guest.
4. Number of people staying.
5. Check-in and check-out dates.
6. Price of the service and date of payment.

And it adds that anyone with a tax obligation to invoice must also comply with it. In a platform booking, the Booking or Airbnb receipt does not always include your registration code or your details; the simplest thing is to include the receipt in the document the guest signs on arrival (Mandatory paperwork in the flat).

Does Verifactu affect me?

Only if your rental is a business activity, that is, if you provide hotel services. The Tax Agency says it clearly: if the activity is not considered a business, «the landlord will not need to adapt»; if it is a tourist apartment with services typical of the hotel industry, it will. For individuals, the deadline to have invoicing software adapted is 1 July 2027 (companies, 1 January 2027).

Be careful with what you read these days about VAT

On 30 September 2026 a royal decree-law (26/2026) was published that put 10 % VAT on rentals of 30 nights or fewer from 1 December. Congress repealed it on 2 October, and that change with it. As of today, a tourist rental without hotel services is still exempt. Careful: the consolidated version of the VAT Act on the BOE was still showing the repealed text when this guide was written.

Summary