Direct answer: which ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) deadline applies to your sale depends on the type of transaction, not the calendar date alone. July 1, 2028 mainly concerns platforms (accommodation, passenger transport) and simplifications for VAT registration. This is not a general structured e-invoice obligation. July 1, 2030 is a deadline that brings Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 follow the structured e-invoice and transaction data reporting obligation for cross-border B2B transactions in the European Union, specifically for goods deliveries to another member state and reverse charge services. If you sell an IT service invoice for 1200 euros to a Latvian company, the 2030 rule applies to you, not the 2028 rule. Domestic B2B rules, for example, in Latvia structured e-invoice obligation, come earlier and completely separate from the general EU rule.
In short: match the deadline to the type of sale
The easiest way to avoid confusion is to look at who and where you are selling to, not when.
| Sales type | Applicable deadline | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| EU cross-border B2B (goods or reverse charge services) | July 1, 2030 | Structured e-invoice + transaction data report |
| Domestic B2B | The country's own law (e.g. Latvia 1 January 2028) | Depends on the Member State, there is no uniform EU date |
| B2C sales | ViDA does not extend the e-invoice obligation | The current VAT rules apply. |
| Platform-mediated accommodation (up to 30 nights) or passenger transport | July 1, 2028 | The platform can become a „regarded seller“ |
If your sales do not fit neatly into any of these four boxes, it is worth distinguishing between two things: whether the transaction is cross-border and whether the buyer is subject to VAT. These two characteristics determine whether the 2030 rule applies, not the size or turnover of your company.
What will actually change on July 1, 2028?
The 2028 half of ViDA is not the deadline for e-invoicing. It is mainly a reform of platforms and registration. Article 3 of the Directive will enter into force on 1 July 2028 and will bring two changes. Firstly, EU short-term accommodation (up to 30 nights) and road passenger transport platforms, such as Airbnb, Booking and Bolt, may become „regarded sellers“ of the service if the service provider does not provide the required VAT data to the platform. Secondly, changes to the Single VAT Registration will come into effect: an extension of the OSS (One Stop Shop) scheme and a mandatory reverse charge for businesses that are not registered for VAT in the country of sale. European Commission overview According to him, the real content of 2028 is precisely these two changes: the platform rule and the simplification of registration.
One caveat: Member States can postpone the implementation of the platform vendor rule, but only until 1 January 2030 and only in that one part. This is not a general postponement of ViDA 2028. Estonia Ministry of Finance announcement According to the negotiations, Estonia obtained the right not to implement additional taxation of small businesses through platforms, but this concerns the VAT rule, not the e-invoice deadline.
What will change for cross-border B2B sales on July 1, 2030?
Here is the core of ViDA, which really affects your daily billing. Article 5 of the Directive will enter into force on 1 July 2030 and amends Article 262 of the current VAT Directive to cover two types of transactions: intra-Community supplies of goods (Article 138) and transactions where the buyer (not the seller) is liable for VAT under Articles 194-197. In practice, this means B2B services with the common reverse charge. There is no threshold for the turnover or invoice amount. The trigger is the type of transaction and the VAT regime, not the amount.
Concrete example: Your Estonian company sells a €1,200 consultancy service to a Latvian VAT payer, the invoice is issued with reverse charge. This transaction falls under the 2030 rule, regardless of the amount. The same Estonian company sells the same service to an Estonian client. This is a domestic transaction and the ViDA cross-border rule does not apply to it. And if you sell the same service to a private individual in another Member State, this is a B2C sale, which is not subject to the ViDA e-invoice obligation.
What does your billing process need to be able to do in 2030?
For transactions subject to coverage, sending a PDF invoice by email is not sufficient. According to the definition of the directive, the invoice must be drawn up, sent and received in a structured electronic format that allows for automatic processing. PDF itself does not meet this requirement. The referenced standard is EN 16931, where suitable syntaxes (e.g. UBL or UN/CEFACT CII) are listed in the technical specification CEN/TS 16931-2:2017.
There are two deadlines that are worth remembering separately. The invoice must be issued no later than 10 days after the taxable event. The same 10-day rule also applies to qualifying prepayments. However, the transaction data report is processed at different speeds: the seller sends the data to the tax authorities at the time of issuing the invoice (or the obligation to issue it arises), while the seller's own invoiced data and the buyer's acquisition data are generally processed within 5 days. So two parties to the same transaction may submit data at different speeds. This is not a bug, but part of the rule.
Domestic sales are a national decision, not a common EU deadline
ViDA does not oblige all Member States to introduce domestic real-time reporting. However, if a country chooses to do so, it must follow the framework of Articles 271a-271b of the Directive. Countries that already had such a system in place, permitted or legalised it before 1 January 2024 will be able to align their system with the EU model by 1 January 2035 at the latest.
The Baltic example here is clear and earlier than the general EU rule: Latvia Ministry of Finance page According to the law, the structured e-invoice and its data transmission to the State Revenue Service (VID) will become mandatory for B2B transactions between Latvian companies from 1 January 2028. This is two and a half years before the EU 2030 cross-border deadline. This is a Latvian law, not a direct consequence of ViDA, and applies only to transactions between companies registered in Latvia. The Ministry of Finance says that digital reporting is based on e-invoices, primarily concerns the harmonisation of reporting on cross-border transactions in the EU, and is scheduled to enter into force on 1 July 2030, but Announcement from the Ministry of Finance does not explicitly confirm that Estonia has not yet established such a domestic rule.
How to prepare for the period 2026–2030?
Two and a half years is enough time if you start with classification, not software selection.
- Variety sales into categories: For each sale type, indicate whether it is cross-border B2B, domestic B2B, B2C, or platform-mediated. This breakdown determines which deadline (2028, 2030, or national) applies to your sale.
- All customer VAT code and reverse charge status now: This data will be included in the 2030 report, and its absence in the event of a delay will mean manual corrections afterwards.
- Test EN 16931 output: Check if your accounting software can generate a structured e-invoice, not just export a PDF invoice.
- Confirm the software's reporting capabilities: Ask your software manufacturer if and when they plan to support a 10-day settlement period and the transmission of transaction data to the tax authorities.
- Follow the rules of the local tax authority separately: The obligation between Latvian companies will start on January 1, 2028, Estonia and Lithuania may announce their domestic rules later. ViDA does not fix this calendar.
Those who sell only domestically and to B2C can calmly observe the deadlines for 2028 and 2030 from afar. Those who submit cross-border B2B invoices (even single ones, even for small amounts, like this 1,200-euro Latvian example) must have the software and data collection ready before July 1, 2030, because ViDA does not allow a transition period for this.
FAQ
Which ViDA deadline applies to my sale – 2028 or 2030?
This depends on the type of transaction. 1 July 2028 mainly concerns platforms (accommodation, passenger transport) and simplifications for VAT registration. 1 July 2030 brings the obligation for structured e-invoicing and transaction data reporting for EU cross-border B2B transactions.
Does the 2028 deadline mean an e-invoice obligation?
No. The 2028 ViDA reform will not introduce a general e-invoicing obligation. It will focus on the platform vendor rule and changes to the Single VAT Registration.
Which transactions are subject to the 2030 e-invoice obligation?
The 2030 rule applies to EU cross-border B2B transactions: intra-Community supplies of goods (Article 138) and transactions where the buyer is a VAT payer (reverse-charged services). It applies regardless of the amount of the invoice.
Are domestic B2B transactions covered by the ViDA 2030 rule?
No. Domestic B2B transactions are not covered by the ViDA 2030 cross-border rule. Each Member State can introduce its own domestic e-invoicing obligation separately, such as Latvia from 1 January 2028.