What is the Spanish Recargo de Equivalencia?
The recargo de equivalencia (equivalence surcharge) is a special VAT regime in Spain that applies to certain retail merchants who meet the following conditions:
They sell goods directly to the final consumer (B2C).
They do not transform or manufacture the products they sell.
Under this regime, the supplier charges the retailer:
The applicable VAT, and
An additional VAT surcharge (for example, 5.2% for the standard VAT rate).
This surcharge is only applied to purchases from suppliers, not to sales made to the final customer.
👉 Important: The recargo de equivalencia applies to supplier invoices, not to customer-facing sales transactions.
Can the recargo de equivalencia be configured in Shopify?
No. At this time, Shopify does not allow the recargo de equivalencia to be configured as:
An additional tax,
An automatic surcharge, or
A tax condition applied only to specific customers.
Tax configuration in Shopify is fully managed within the platform itself, and the recargo de equivalencia is not available as a configurable tax option.
👉 Refer to the Shopify Help Center to learn how to configure taxes in your store: [link]
In addition, Shopify POS is designed for direct-to-consumer (B2C) sales, not for complex tax scenarios or wholesale (B2B) transactions where this VAT regime may apply.
How does this affect Comply?
Comply generates invoices (both simplified and full invoices) based on the tax information received from Shopify POS.
Within Comply:
❌ Taxes cannot be configured
❌ Tax surcharges cannot be applied
❌ Tax exemptions cannot be managed
Comply strictly respects the tax data defined in Shopify and focuses on issuing legally compliant invoices, ensuring compliance with applicable Spanish regulations (Invoicing Law and Anti-Fraud Law / Verifactu).
👉 If Shopify does not apply the recargo de equivalencia, Comply cannot include it on the invoice.
Quick summary
Shopify does not support the configuration of the recargo de equivalencia.
Shopify POS is designed for B2C sales, not wholesale transactions.
Comply reflects exactly the tax data received from Shopify.
If the surcharge does not exist in Shopify, it cannot appear on Comply invoices.
What alternatives are available?
If you carry out wholesale sales or sell to self-employed customers where the recargo de equivalencia must be applied:
Shopify POS is not the appropriate sales channel.
We recommend:
Managing these transactions outside of Shopify POS.
Using a dedicated invoicing solution that allows proper configuration of this VAT regime.
This approach ensures the correct tax treatment without impacting your B2C sales flow within Shopify.