Artificial intelligence (AI) projects are increasingly common in Spain for platforms or companies located outside the European Union. The problem arises when it comes time to issue the invoice, and the same question comes up repeatedly: Should it include VAT or not? We'll explain…
The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) services is not only changing the way we work. It is also forcing a review of tax concepts that, until recently, seemed reserved for large technology platforms or digital companies.
Today it is perfectly normal for a self-employed professional from Spain to train AI models, label data, program automations, monitor responses generated by intelligent systems, or participate in machine learning processes for companies located in the United States, Latin America, or any other country outside the European Union.
And that's precisely where the question that is being asked most often by many companies and self-employed people arises: Does that service include Spanish VAT or not?
The answer, in general terms, depends less on AI and more on where the customer actually is and how the service provided is rated.
The customer's location remains crucial
In many international digital services, the key is not where the professional works, but where the recipient of the service is located.
When the contractor is a company or professional located outside the Spanish territory where VAT applies, the operation is usually not subject to Spanish VAT, provided that the service is effectively intended for that foreign entity and there is no permanent establishment in Spain that receives the service.
Although the Spanish Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) recently analyzed a case related to the training of artificial intelligence systems for a US platform in its Ruling V2511-25, the truly important criterion is not exclusive to AI. This logic has been used for years in numerous digital and technological services. Artificial intelligence is simply accelerating situations that were previously much less frequent.
- Attention. It's not enough for the client to have a foreign website or pay from another country. It's advisable to verify who is actually contracting the service, where they are based, and if they have any offices or branches in Spain.
Training an AI can be considered an electronic service
One of the most interesting aspects of this type of activity is that the government tends to consider these tasks as services provided electronically. This encompasses a wide range of activities, from programming and updating systems to providing information, automating processes, processing data, and training AI models using digital platforms.
This means that, from a tax perspective, these operations are beginning to share similar rules with other international digital services that we have known for years.
However, not all technology-related work is automatically considered the same. Each specific case must be analyzed, because in practice, technical services, consulting, programming, support, or digital content licensing can be combined.
- Attention. Many people are invoicing technology services "as if they were normal jobs" without checking if they are actually considered electronic services for VAT purposes.
The real risk usually lies in how billing is done
In practice, the most common problem is usually not the work itself, but the documentation of the transaction. Some professionals issue invoices with VAT when they probably shouldn't. Others do the exact opposite and leave transactions without VAT without checking if all the requirements are met.
Furthermore, particularly delicate situations arise in international services linked to digital platforms:
- Customers who constantly change countries
- Intermediary platforms that act on their own behalf or on behalf of others
- Payments received from third countries other than the actual customer
- Automated hiring without a signed contract
- Hybrid services combining programming, consulting, and technical support
All of this makes it necessary to review each operation in much more detail than is often the case.
- Attention. Collecting payments through a foreign platform does not automatically guarantee that the transaction will be exempt from Spanish VAT.
Artificial intelligence is creating new tax scenarios
Beyond this specific issue, artificial intelligence is opening up tax debates that will likely grow in the coming years.
For example:
- How are automated services taxed?
- What happens when intermediary platforms are involved?
- How are certain hybrid digital jobs rated?
- Where is the service actually understood to be used?
- What formal obligations exist in recurring international transactions?
Currently, many responses are being developed using traditional standards applied to entirely new activities. This explains why inquiries, interpretations, and administrative criteria continue to arise on issues that were not even present in the mainstream market until recently.
It is advisable to review the contracts and the actual operations
In these types of international technology services, the details matter far more than they seem. Providing a service directly to a foreign company is not the same as doing so through an intermediary platform. Nor is training an automated system the same as developing custom software or providing ongoing technical support.
Therefore, it is advisable to review:
- Who is the actual recipient of the service?
- What type of activity is being carried out
- How is the contractual relationship documented?
- From where the service is provided and used
- What information appears on the invoices and on the payment platform
In international AI-related transactions, small nuances can completely alter the VAT treatment.
AI is advancing much faster than many companies' ability to adapt to it fiscally. This is causing seemingly simple activities to conceal significant tax implications. The key is not simply "developing technology" or working for an international platform. What truly matters is understanding how that service fits within the framework of international VAT regulations.
Because in this new digital environment, issuing an invoice correctly is becoming almost as important as developing the service itself correctly.
You can contact this professional office for any questions or clarifications you may have.
Warm regards,
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A Àmbit Assessor, SL has 40 years dedicated to the tax, comptable and labor consultancy of the Pime.
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