E-invoicing in Latvia: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 Guide for Developers

Overview

Latvia operates a Peppol-based e-invoicing framework administered by the State Revenue Service (Valsts ieņēmumu dienests — VID). The country adopted Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 as its national standard for structured electronic invoices, aligning with the broader EU move toward interoperable, network-delivered invoice exchange.

Latvia is a member of the OpenPeppol network and uses EAS scheme 0090 (VAT number) as the primary participant identifier. Invoices are delivered peer-to-peer between registered Peppol access points using the AS4 transport protocol — the tax authority does not act as a clearance intermediary. VAT reporting obligations remain separate and are fulfilled through periodic VID declarations.

The standard VAT rate in Latvia is 21%, with reduced rates of 12% (certain medical and social services) and 5% (books and periodicals). Currency is EUR; Latvia joined the Eurozone in January 2014.

Mandate and Timeline

Latvia's e-invoicing obligation is currently scoped to B2G — suppliers to public sector contracting authorities must submit invoices electronically via Peppol or through the national e-invoicing portal. The B2G mandate implements the EU Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing in public procurement.

Key dates:

• 2018: EU Directive 2014/55/EU transposed; central government B2G e-invoicing mandatory
• 2019: Sub-central contracting authorities included in obligation
• 2024–present: VID actively promotes Peppol adoption for B2B; no confirmed B2B mandate date

Latvia has not announced a compulsory B2B e-invoicing date, though EU ViDA developments may accelerate a decision in the 2027–2030 window. Monitor VID publications for updates.

Format and Network

Latvia uses Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 without a national CIUS extension — the OpenPeppol baseline specification applies in full.

• Standard: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (EN 16931 CIUS)
• Syntax: UBL 2.1 (preferred) or UN/CEFACT CII
• Transport: AS4 via the Peppol network (SMP/SML-based routing)
• Participant identifier scheme: 0090 — VAT registration number (e.g. 0090:40003456789)
• Currency: EUR
• Standard VAT rate: 21%
• Reduced VAT rates: 12%, 5%
• Authority: State Revenue Service (VID — Valsts ieņēmumu dienests)

The 0090 scheme carries the Latvian VAT number without the LV country prefix. A Latvian VAT number is 11 digits. Peppol participant registration is handled through any accredited OpenPeppol access point, including Clearvo.

Required Fields

For a valid Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 invoice targeting a Latvian recipient, the following fields are mandatory:

• invoiceNumber — unique seller-assigned document identifier
• issueDate — YYYY-MM-DD
• dueDate — payment due date
• currency — EUR
• buyerReference or orderReference — required by Peppol rule PEPPOL-EN16931-R003
• supplier.endpointId — EAS scheme 0090 + VAT number (BT-34)
• supplier.endpointSchemeId — 0090
• buyer.endpointId — EAS scheme 0090 + buyer VAT number (BT-49)
• buyer.endpointSchemeId — 0090
• supplier.taxId — Latvian VAT number (11 digits, without LV prefix)
• buyer.taxId — buyer VAT number
• lines[].taxCode — EN 16931 category code (S for standard, AE for reverse charge, K for intra-EU, etc.)
• lines[].vatRate — VAT rate as a percentage (e.g. 21)

Fields that are optional but recommended for B2G: contractReference (BT-12), orderReference (BT-13), and invoicePeriod (BT-73/74) for service invoices.

Integration Example

Send a Latvia invoice via the Clearvo API. Set country to "LV" and use 0090:-prefixed endpoint IDs for both parties.

curl -X POST https://api.clearvo.io/v1/invoices \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLEARVO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "country": "LV",
    "documentType": "invoice",
    "invoiceNumber": "LV-INV-2026-001",
    "issueDate": "2026-06-16",
    "dueDate": "2026-07-16",
    "currency": "EUR",
    "buyerReference": "PO-2026-001",
    "supplier": {
      "name": "Clearvo Technologies Ltd",
      "taxId": "40003456789",
      "taxIdCountry": "LV",
      "address": { "street": "Brivibas bulvaris 1", "city": "Riga", "postalCode": "LV-1010", "country": "LV" },
      "endpointId": "0090:40003456789",
      "endpointSchemeId": "0090"
    },
    "buyer": {
      "name": "Latvia Buyer AS",
      "taxId": "BUYERLV001",
      "taxIdCountry": "LV",
      "address": { "street": "Buyer Street 1", "city": "Riga", "postalCode": "LV-1010", "country": "LV" },
      "endpointId": "0090:BUYERLV001",
      "endpointSchemeId": "0090"
    },
    "lines": [
      { "description": "Software consulting services", "quantity": 5, "unitPrice": 1000, "taxCode": "S", "vatRate": 21 },
      { "description": "Platform subscription annual", "quantity": 1, "unitPrice": 3600, "taxCode": "S", "vatRate": 21 }
    ]
  }'

Clearvo performs a live SMP lookup on the buyer's 0090 identifier before sending, confirms the recipient's registered access point, packages the UBL 2.1 document in an AS4 envelope, and delivers it. The API response includes the Peppol message ID, delivery timestamp, and the generated XML.

Key Rules

• EAS scheme is 0090 — always prefix endpoint IDs with 0090: followed by the 11-digit VAT number without the LV country code prefix.
• No national CIUS — standard Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 rules apply without Latvia-specific extensions; no additional mandatory elements beyond the OpenPeppol baseline.
• buyerReference or orderReference is mandatory — Peppol rule PEPPOL-EN16931-R003 requires at least one of these to be present on every invoice.
• Clearvo is not a tax engine — VAT rates and amounts are caller-supplied. Pass vatRate: 21 for standard-rated lines; use taxCode: "AE" with vatRate: 0 for reverse-charge B2B supplies.
• B2G routing — for Latvian public authority recipients, confirm their Peppol participant ID via the SMP before sending; some bodies use the national portal rather than a direct Peppol access point.
• Currency — all Latvian invoices must be denominated in EUR; the currency field must be "EUR".
• Sandbox testing — use environment: "sandbox" in the Clearvo request to route through the OpenPeppol test network (testbed.peppol.eu) before going live.

Full API reference and Latvia-specific validation rules are at clearvo.io/docs.

Related country guides

• Lithuania — Peppol BIS 3.0, B2G mandatory
• Estonia — Peppol BIS 3.0, B2G mandatory
• Finland — Peppol BIS 3.0, Finvoice B2G mandatory