E-invoicing
E-invoicing in Latvia from 2028: what businesses need to know
From 1 January 2028, every company registered in Latvia will have to issue invoices to other businesses as structured e-invoices and report their data to the State Revenue Service (VID). Sounds far away? It is actually the right moment to start preparing — especially if you create invoices in Excel, Word or as PDFs from an online shop.
What is an e-invoice?
An e-invoice is not a PDF in an email. It is a structured electronic document (usually XML) that the recipient’s system can read and import automatically, without retyping. In Latvia, e-invoices must follow the European standard LVS EN 16931-1:2017.
Put simply: a PDF is made for people, an e-invoice is made for computers.
What changes and when?
| From | What is required |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2025 | Invoices to budget institutions must be e-invoices. |
| 1 January 2026 | E-invoice data in transactions with the public sector must be reported to VID. Companies may also start reporting business-to-business (B2B) e-invoice data voluntarily. |
| 1 January 2028 | E-invoices become mandatory for all B2B transactions, and their data must be reported to VID. |
The B2B obligation was originally planned for 2026, but in June 2025 the Saeima moved it to 2028. The requirement covers invoices to businesses — an invoice to a private individual who is not self-employed can still be a PDF or another agreed format.
How are e-invoices delivered?
The law does not prescribe one central system. Each company chooses how to send and receive e-invoices:
- An e-invoicing service provider (operator) — VID publishes a list of providers.
- The official e-address — required in transactions with the public sector.
- Direct integration — your own system prepares the e-invoice and passes it on, including to VID.
Email may be used as a transport channel, but the Ministry of Finance advises against relying on it as the main one because of security and fraud risks.
Which companies will have the most work?
If you already invoice from modern accounting software, an update and the right settings will probably be enough. Expect more work if:
- you create invoices in Excel or Word from a template;
- invoices are issued by your online shop, CRM or another system rather than your accounting software;
- you have custom software that generates invoices as PDFs;
- you receive many invoices and currently retype them by hand.
How to prepare: 5 steps
- List where invoices come from. Accounting, online shop, CRM, Excel — each source needs a solution.
- Check your software. Ask your accounting or e-commerce vendor whether it supports e-invoices under LVS EN 16931.
- Choose a channel. An operator, the e-address or a direct integration — depending on your volumes and systems.
- Clean up your data. E-invoices need accurate company details, VAT numbers and product or service data — invalid data won’t go through.
- Start voluntarily now. From 2026 you can send e-invoices voluntarily, so issues surface calmly rather than in December 2027.
E-invoicing is more than an obligation
Structured invoices mean incoming invoices no longer need to be retyped: they can be imported into accounting automatically and matched with orders and payments. For companies that receive many invoices, this saves hours every month. VID also plans to use e-invoice data to pre-fill VAT return annexes.
How we can help
If your invoices are created in an online shop, CRM or custom system, we can connect it to e-invoicing: generate invoices in the right format, pass them to a service provider or VID, and process incoming invoices automatically. Learn more about system integrations or book a free consultation.
This article is based on information published by Latvia’s Ministry of Finance and the Saeima. Before making decisions, please check the latest information on the Ministry of Finance website and consult your accountant.
