The deadline for considering a payment overdue has been shortened, according to amendments to the Law on Commitments and Late Payments, which come into force on Thursday. Until now, payments were considered overdue if they remained in that situation for more than 90 days after the agreed due date. Now, in order to align national legislation with EU law, an invoice is considered overdue whenever 30 or 60 days have passed.
The new deadlines apply differently: 30 days from the receipt of the invoice by the debtor; 30 days after the effective receipt of goods or services when the invoice receipt date is uncertain or when the debtor receives the invoice before the supply; and 30 days after the date of acceptance or verification of conformity, when provided for by law or contract. In the case of public entities that provide healthcare and are duly recognized as such, 60 days apply to all these scenarios.
From these deadlines, creditors are entitled to default interest for the period corresponding to the delay, without the need for formal notice. The applicable interest follows what is established in the Commercial Code, meaning the interest rate cannot be lower than the rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operation, plus eight percentage points.
The amendments also cover the rules applicable to available funds, that is, transfers not yet made resulting from programs financed with European funds. Available funds now include very short-term available amounts, including the net corrected appropriation of committed funds for the following three months and transfers or subsidies from the State Budget. The Budgetary Entity must communicate the maximum limit of available funds that may be considered.
