In short (TL;DR)

If your business sends only a handful of invoices a month to a Latvian state or municipal body, the simplest free route is an e-invoice created through the latvia.gov.lv email address form — Latvia's official electronic address system for dealing with public institutions online. Structured e-invoicing has been mandatory in the B2G segment (business-to-government) since January 1, 2025, and sending the invoice data to VID became mandatory for B2G invoices from January 1, 2026. The B2B obligation between companies was pushed back by an amendment passed on June 5, 2025 to January 1, 2028. VID's EDS XML upload and paid operators are mainly channels and add-ons, not stand-alone free solutions in their own right. For occasional invoices, the email address remains by far the simplest path.

What actually counts as an e-invoice in Latvia?

Latvia's accounting law is specific about this: a structured electronic invoice is one that is created, sent and received in a structured electronic format that a computer system can process automatically, without a human retyping anything. This isn't a matter of opinion or presentation. It's a technical requirement written into the law.

In practice that means the invoice has to exist as a machine-readable XML file (Extensible Markup Language, a structured markup format software can read on its own), built to the European standard EN 16931 and the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 specification. A PDF invoice, no matter how neatly it's formatted, does not meet this bar. A PDF is made for a human to read; the law wants a file a machine can read. Emailing a PDF to a Latvian client may still be fine, but only if that client does not fall into the group for which a structured e-invoice is legally required.

What deadlines actually apply in 2026?

This is where most confusion happens, so it's worth separating the three dates cleanly.

The B2G segment (business to public institution) has been mandatory since January 1, 2025. If your client is a budget-funded or municipal institution, you already need to send a structured e-invoice, not a PDF. For contracts signed before the end of 2025, the law allowed a grace period. But by January 1, 2026 at the latest, even those older contracts have to move onto e-invoices.

Separately, from January 1, 2026, sending the e-invoice data to VID (Valsts eizumenus dienests, Latvia's tax authority) also became mandatory for B2G invoices. This is a distinct obligation from simply sending the invoice: an invoice can be sent correctly, but the data still has to reach the tax authority separately.

The domestic B2B (business-to-business) obligation, originally planned to start in 2026, was pushed to January 1, 2028 by the amendment passed on June 5, 2025. Between 2026 and 2027, sending B2B invoice data to VID is voluntary; it only becomes mandatory from January 1, 2028. So if your clients are private companies, there's no urgency yet. But it's worth getting used to the process before it's compulsory.

What are the free options, and which one actually works end-to-end?

Option Best for What it does What to watch for
latvia.gov.lv email address form Occasional invoices with a simple sales-invoice structure Creates, saves and sends the e-invoice in Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format, and forwards the data to VID automatically Requires an active email account; every invoice has to be entered manually
VID EDS XML upload Businesses whose accounting software can already export XML Accepts a ready-made e-invoice file in XML format only, it doesn't create the invoice for you Good for submitting data, not for building the invoice itself
VID API via accounting software Businesses whose accounting program is already connected to VID's E-Invoice API V2 Automatic data exchange directly between your accounting program and VID Only works if your software provider has already built the integration
Free plans from private tools Businesses that have checked a specific tool's Latvian XML and VID support Varies widely from provider to provider Confirm the tool actually supports Latvia's XML structure and VID channels before relying on it, never assume it does by default

Of these four, e-address is the only one that's a genuinely complete, free, start-to-finish solution. The others are mostly transmission channels or assume you already have compatible software in place.

How do you actually send a €1,200 invoice to a municipality?

Say your business provides consulting services and needs to bill a local municipality for €1,200. Here's the practical sequence:

The whole process is free, and sending through e-address satisfies both the structured-invoice requirement and the VID submission requirement in one step. What it doesn't cover is your own bookkeeping and record-keeping obligations: archiving, internal checks, reporting. Those remain your responsibility regardless of which channel you send through.

When does the free route stop being enough?

The email address works well as long as you're sending occasional invoices with a simple structure. The trouble starts with volume and repetition.

It's worth switching to an accounting-software integration or a paid operator once:

  • you're sending dozens or hundreds of invoices a month and manual entry starts eating real time;
  • your invoices have many line items or you need reusable templates;
  • several people prepare invoices and you need user permissions and approval workflows;
  • you also need to receive invoices through the Peppol channel, not just send them;
  • you want e-invoices to flow directly into your inventory or accounting database without manual re-entry;
  • you need a clear audit trail and automatic archiving that a stand-alone web form simply doesn't offer.

Latvija.gov.lv's own guidance says the same thing: the portal suits organizations with simple needs, while larger organizations that need fully automated processing should look at API solutions or paid e-invoice service providers.

What are the most common mistakes businesses make here?

The most frequent one is assuming the B2B obligation kicked in during 2026. It didn't. It was pushed to January 1, 2028, and submitting B2B data to VID during 2026–2027 is voluntary.

The second mistake: treating a well-formatted PDF as an e-invoice because it looks correct. Under the law, only a structured, machine-readable XML format counts. A PDF has never met that bar, no matter how it's designed.

The third: assuming any free invoice generator found online automatically complies with Latvia's requirements. Before using one, check specifically whether it supports Latvia's XML structure and can transmit data to VID. By default, most don't.

The fourth: believing a free tool handles every obligation on its own. Sending through e-address does forward the data to VID automatically, but it doesn't replace your own bookkeeping, retention and audit duties. Those stay with the business regardless of which channel you choose.

FAQ

When is a free email address sufficient to send an e-invoice in Latvia?

If you only send a few invoices per month to a Latvian state or local government agency and the invoice structure is simple, a completely free email address via latvija.gov.lv is sufficient. It creates, stores and sends e-invoices in Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format and automatically transfers the data to VID.

When will B2G e-invoice become mandatory in Latvia in 2026?

In the B2G segment, structured e-invoices are mandatory as of 1 January 2025. From 1 January 2026, the transmission of e-invoice data to VID for B2G invoices will also become mandatory. For contracts concluded before the end of 2025, the law allows for a postponement of the transition, but these invoices must also be converted to e-invoices by 1 January 2026 at the latest.

Is a PDF invoice considered an e-invoice in Latvia?

No. According to the Latvian Accounting Law, an e-invoice must be a structured machine-readable XML file that complies with the European standard EN 16931 and the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 specification. A PDF invoice, no matter how correct it looks, does not meet this requirement.

When was the B2B e-invoicing obligation postponed in Latvia?

The B2B e-invoice obligation, originally planned for 2026, was postponed to 1 January 2028 by the legislative amendment of 5 June 2025. In the period 2026–2027, the transmission of B2B invoice data to the VID is voluntary.