Latvian B2B invoices: PDF until 2027, e-invoice 2028

Yes, you still can. If your Latvian company invoices another company registered in Latvia, a plain PDF is perfectly legal through 2026 and 2027. The duty to issue an invoice for payment as a structured e-invoice starts, under the transitional provisions of the Accounting Law, only on 1 January 2028. From that same date the invoice data must also reach VID, the State Revenue Service (Latvia's tax authority). The original deadline was 1 January 2026, but the Saeima's amendment of 5 June 2025 pushed it back two years; the change took effect on 12 June 2025. So as of September 2026, Latvian domestic B2B invoicing is still PDF territory, with two years left on the clock.

What does the timeline actually look like now?

Older explainers, and a few software vendors' slide decks, still show 1 January 2026. That date really was in the law, right up until it was replaced. Latvia is moving to e-invoicing in stages, and VID's e-invoicing page sets them out like this:

From	What changes?	Who it affects
01.01.2025	An invoice to a budget institution must be issued as an e-invoice	B2G, G2G, G2B
01.01.2026	The data from those e-invoices must be submitted to VID	public administration and Latvian-registered companies
01.01.2026–31.12.2027	Submitting B2B e-invoice data to VID is voluntary	companies invoicing each other
01.01.2028	A B2B invoice must be issued as an e-invoice and the data submitted to VID	Latvian-registered companies invoicing each other

The voluntary window isn't just a friendly gesture. Cabinet Regulation No. 749, which applies from 13 December 2025, lets companies that already exchange e-invoices with each other start submitting them to VID from 1 January 2026. The same regulation says that for invoices moving through the official e-address, data transmission to VID also goes live on 1 January 2026.

Why isn't a PDF a structured e-invoice?

The law does not use "electronic invoice" to mean "an invoice that travels electronically". Under the definitions in the Accounting Law, a structured electronic invoice is an invoice drawn up, sent and received in a structured electronic format that allows it to be processed automatically and electronically, and that complies with the European standard LVS EN 16931-1:2017 and the technical specification LVS CEN/TS 16931-2:2017.

Take a €1,200 invoice to a client in Rīga. As a PDF it's a picture of a piece of paper: a person reads it off the screen and retypes the amount, the reference number and the due date into the accounting software, or runs it through OCR (optical character recognition, which guesses at the text in an image). As a structured e-invoice, the same document arrives as a machine-readable XML file where every detail sits in its own field: seller's registration number, invoice number, line totals, VAT, due date. Identical content, except nothing has to be guessed. That's exactly why a PDF can't stand in for the mandatory file after 1 January 2028, not even a tidy one attached to a polite email.

Who is in scope, and who isn't?

The obligation is written for invoices between companies registered in Latvia. VID states that e-invoice circulation covers public administration and Latvian-registered companies, including natural persons carrying out economic activity, other subjects of the Accounting Law, and subjects of the VAT Law.

A few conclusions follow directly from that:

• There is no turnover or invoice-count threshold. Neither the law nor Regulation No 749 ties the obligation to turnover, invoice volume or VAT-registration status. Scope is set by the type of subject, not by size.
• Invoices to private individuals stay out. The duty is written for an invoice a company issues to another company registered in Latvia that is not a budget institution. A private person with no economic activity does not fall under it.
• A foreign partner isn't caught by the obligation, but can be caught by an agreement. If your Estonian or Lithuanian company invoices a Latvian client, Latvian law does not impose this on you. VID notes for its part that the rules do not prohibit a Latvian-registered company from producing a structured e-invoice for a company that isn't registered in Latvia; the parties simply agree on it between themselves. How cross-border e-invoice circulation will eventually be organized in detail is not settled in these rules.

The law also contains a handful of exemptions from the obligation. Some time before 2028, go through your own document types once and check the wording of the law itself rather than someone else's summary of it.

Two separate moves: the invoice to your client, the data to VID

This is where most of the confusion starts. There are two distinct processes: delivering the e-invoice to your client, and submitting the e-invoice data to the tax authority.

Which channels are you allowed to use?

Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online, the EU-wide network for exchanging e-invoices) is not the only permitted route. Regulation No. 749 lists three channels: the official e-address (e-adrese), if the account is activated; a service provider's channel, meaning an e-invoice operator; or another channel, such as a system-to-system interface, an email address or some other electronic channel. The parties agree between themselves which one they use. In principle, then, the XML file can also travel as an email attachment.

The format, however, is fixed. The XML structure of an e-invoice submitted to VID must follow UBL 2.1 and the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 specification, the so-called CIUS. Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is, according to its own documentation, a Core Invoice Usage Specification of the European standard EN 16931 — a narrowed-down rulebook, so an invoice built to it also complies with the European standard. Short version: you choose the network, but the content and structure of the file are set by Peppol's rules.

How does the data reach VID?

Getting the data to VID has its own paths. If you use the e-address, the e-address information system reports the invoice to VID automatically. For that, both the company and the operator have to run a current integration version. An operator's channel has to be connected to the API of VID's system. If you choose "another channel", say email or a direct interface with your client, you have to submit the invoice to VID yourself: either through the API of the Electronic Declaration System (EDS), VID's online filing portal, or by uploading a file. EDS accepts uploads in XML format only; your accounting software can send the invoice over the API if it has an integration with VID's e-invoicing API.

How long do you have to submit the data?

The deadline is short and specific: the e-invoice is submitted to VID once, no later than five working days after the day it was sent. The regulation also covers what happens when the technology lets you down.

What if the systems are down?

• Your system or your operator's system is down: notify VID in EDS no later than the working day after the five-day deadline falls due, stating the reason, and submit the invoice within three working days of the fault being fixed.
• VID's own solution is down: submit the invoice no later than the working day after the fault has been fixed. VID announces both the faults and their resolution itself.
• The invoice went unsubmitted for some other reason: notify VID in EDS, stating the reason and the period, and submit the invoices within 30 calendar days of identifying the reason.

Regulation No. 749 sets no penalty amounts. The general rules on administrative liability sit in the Law on Administrative Liability, which leaves specific offenses and sanctions to sector-specific laws.

How do you check the XML before sending?

Before sending, check the XML. VID recommends using the European Commission's e-invoice validation tool to confirm that the data structure, the mandatory fields and the calculations all hold up, and has published a separate guide for it.

What should you get done in 2026 and 2027?

Two years feels generous right up to December 2027, when your software update is sitting in a queue behind everyone else's.

• Map your invoice flows: how many sales invoices go to Latvian companies, how many to budget institutions, how many to private individuals and how many abroad. The obligation touches only one of those buckets.
• Ask your software provider one concrete question: does the program produce UBL 2.1 XML that meets the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 requirements, and does it have an integration with VID's e-invoicing API? Yes or no — there's no third answer here.
• Pick your channel and agree it with the client: e-address, operator, or a direct interface. The regulation itself requires an agreement, so that conversation is coming either way.
• Use the voluntary period as a test run: from 1 January 2026 you can submit invoices to VID with no obligation attached. Push a couple of real invoices through the whole chain and you'll know exactly where your process breaks.
• Review your document-handling rules: which format invoices are stored in, who watches the five-working-day deadline, and what happens during an outage. That's easier to write down now than in January 2028.

One more practical detail: VID keeps a current list of service providers and guidance materials on its e-invoicing page, including instructions for submitting through EDS and for validating XML. If your current program needs replacing, or needs something in between it and VID, that list is a sensible first stop.

Also available in: in Estonian · Latvian

Last reviewed: September 16, 2026

FAQ

When is PDF invoice still valid for Latvian B2B invoices?

A PDF invoice can be the main document until December 31, 2027. From January 1, 2028, structured XML e-invoices and data transmission to VID are mandatory.

What is the difference between a PDF invoice and a structured e-invoice?

A PDF is an image of an invoice that a human can read. A structured e-invoice is a machine-readable XML file that complies with the European standard EN 16931 and allows for automated processing.

Who will be subject to the Latvian B2B e-invoice obligation in 2028?

The obligation applies to all businesses registered in Latvia, including sole proprietors and small businesses. There are limited exceptions, such as cash register documents or B2C invoices.

What is the deadline for submitting e-invoice data to VID?

The data must be transmitted no later than five business days after the invoice is sent. If a technical error occurs, it must be reported on the next business day.