Maximum period for payment of commercial invoices of 60 days

A recent judgment by the Spanish Supreme Court, dated 23rd November 2016, has ruled that Law 3/2004 (dated 29th December 2004) against late payment in commercial operations, as amended by Law 15/2010 of 5th July and Law 11/2013 of 26th July, establishes a maximum period of 60 days for payment in commercial operations. After such period, interests, as established in the Law, inevitably accrue. The Supreme Court rejected the defendants’ argument that if a period of more than 60 days was agreed by the parties to the commercial operation, it would be necessary to examine if this period over 60 days is abusive before establishing whether it is null and void or not.

This maximum payment period of 60 days starts to run from the date of the delivery of the goods or services or, if a procedure for the acceptance or verification of the goods or services has been established either by law or contract, from the date in which the goods or services are accepted or verified. The maximum period for verification would be of 30 days.

According to the Resolution of the General Secretary of Treasure dated 27th December 2016, which was published in the Official Journal on 29th December 2016, the applicable annual interest rate under the Law 3/2004 of 29h December would be 8% for the first semester of 2017, a rate to be revised each semester of the year.