Latest news on e-Invoicing in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are rolling out new e-invoicing developments. The Baltic countries are working on their e-Invoicing models in the scope of relations between public administrations and their suppliers. Following the example of the rest of Europe, they are committed to this way of ensuring interoperability in e-Procurement development so as not to lose their competitive edge. What are the latest new features of e-Invoicing in these countries?

As a consequence of the ruling, the Baltic countries are making headway in improving B2G and B2B relations, although at different speeds.

Estonia, B2G e-Invoicing required

Since July 2019, e-Invoicing is mandatory in B2G relations. In other words, suppliers to the Estonian public administration must issue electronic invoices in compliance with one of the following standards:

• European standards: UBL and UN/CEFACT, approved by Directive 2014/55/EU.
• National standard, EVS 923: 2014 / AC: 2017, based on the XML schema.

Unlike countries where a central platform or a hub is used (as in the case of Spain with Facturae or France with Chorus Pro), through which invoices are sent and distributed to the corresponding public institution, in the case of Estonia, suppliers must send e-Invoices directly to the public administration that has contracted the service and can choose between different private e-Invoicing providers.

All the entities billing electronically are registered in the Center for Registries and Information Systems (RIK) under the Ministry of Justice of Estonia. The RIK manages all the information to transmit the invoices electronically to the registered companies and institutions.

e-Invoicing in Estonia does not require an electronic signature.

Lithuania joins the PEPPOL network

Since April 18, 2019 Lithuania is part of the PEPPOL network. The Baltic country also supports the standard adopted by the PEPPOL network: PEPPOL UBL (Universal Business Language), a variant of XML that has become a common and interoperable standard, key to the development of cross-border e-Procurement.

Lithuania made B2G e-Invoicing mandatory in July 2017, then less than 2 years later the PEPPOL standard was adopted although the previously used national XML format is still accepted.

The Lithuanian public platform eSaskaita which works as a central hub for e-invoice sending and reception, now is connected to the PEPPOL network.

Lithuania has also developed electronic tax compliance.

This project is framed within the smart tax administration system called i.MAS and consists of 3 subsystems:

• VAZ: Monthly report of consignment notes and other goods transport documents issued.
• SAF: Monthly report of information on invoices issued and received
• SAFT: Electronic tax audit file that must be presented during the audit upon demand from the tax authority.

Latvia: B2G mandatory e-Invoicing and planning on B2B e-Invoicing

On April 9, 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers published regulation nº. 154, which rules that public administrations must accept electronic invoices in PEPPOL BIS billing 3.0 format from those suppliers that want to invoice electronically. As of April 2020, B2G eInvoicing has been mandatory for central and sub-central/local authorities for all contracting authorities.

Electronic invoices may be submitted by three methods:

• Through the “e-adrese” tool for communication with Latvian public administrations, only available to companies registered in the country.
• E-mail.
• Any other mean previously agreed on with the public administration.

To connect with the central government, there is a state platform called ePakalpojumi.lv

In the B2B sphere, the Latvian Ministry of Finance has published a report that states its intention of introducing mandatory electronic invoicing for all B2B and B2G transactions from 2025 using the Peppol network. 

Global e-Invoicing Solutions

Whatever the latest new features are in electronic invoicing, it is convenient to have an e-invoicing solution provider with global capacity that allows you to quickly adapt to the news from each country. Managing your e-Invoicing with Public Administrations of the European Union in compliance with national specifications can pose a challenge for global companies. To simplify this situation, EDICOM has developed a B2B2G global electronic communications platform with e-Invoicing and VAT Compliance capabilities.

This platform allows the sending of compliant electronic invoices to any Public Administration from a single solution. 

EDICOM coordinates HOSP&INVOICE project (Action No: 2017-EU-IA-0146).