ViDA 2028 — Lithuanian roadmap without disruption
Lithuania approaches ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) from a front-running position. It already owns the entire underlying infrastructure: i.MAS / i.SAF (2016, world's first universal SAF-T VAT register), RKDS (2014, first EU mandate of online cash registers), e.sąskaita (2017, EU-pioneer B2G). The B2B public consultation is underway (2026-2027) and a B2B mandate is expected on 1 January 2028, with EU cross-border extension on 1 July 2030. No major disruption — a natural extension of the existing.
History — from 2014 to ViDA 2028, no disruption
Lithuania structured its post-fact CTC over 10 years before the ViDA proposal. By the time the EU Commission published ViDA in December 2022, Lithuania already had: online cash registers (2014), real-time waybills (2015), universal monthly SAF-T VAT register (2016), mandatory B2G (2017), automatic pre-fill (2018). The remaining gap for ViDA is small — mostly on cross-border B2B (DRR).
2 Jan 2014 | RKDS — first EU mandate of online cash registers.
1 Oct 2016 | i.SAF — world's first universal SAF-T VAT mandate.
1 Jul 2017 | e.sąskaita — mandatory B2G (21 months before EU deadline).
2018-2024 | Stabilisation, i.MAS ↔ i.SAF ↔ RKDS cross-checking,
| i.APS pre-fill.
|
2022 | EU Commission proposes ViDA — pillar 1 real-time e-invoicing
| + digital reporting, pillar 2 platforms, pillar 3 single
| VAT registration.
|
2024 | ViDA compromise adopted at ECOFIN Council. Deadlines:
| — 2025 Member States may mandate e-invoicing without
| derogation (amendment to dir. 2006/112/EC)
| — 1 July 2030: EU cross-border B2B e-invoicing mandatory
| in EN 16931 + Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR).
|
2026 | LT public consultation launched by Finansų ministerija
| on a ViDA-aligned B2B mandate. 6-month period.
|
2027 | Seimas vote expected for transposition. Privileged
| timeline: B2B mandate starting 1 January 2028, with a
| tolerance phase until 1 July 2030.
|
2028-2030 | Progressive deployment. Reuse of the i.MAS / i.SAF /
| e.sąskaita / RKDS infrastructure — no disruption.
| Lithuania will be among the most advanced States.Governance — Finansų + VMI + Seimas
The operational driver is the Finansų ministerija which leads the public consultation and prepares the transposition. The VMI brings i.MAS technical expertise and operates the platform capacity testing. The Seimas (Parliament) votes the formal transposition into Mokesčių administravimo įstatymas and PVM įstatymas.
On the private side, Lithuanian PEPPOL Access Point players (Pagero, Tradeshift, Tieto Lithuania, OpusCapita, Telia Lietuva) participate in the consultation to influence technical scope and transition choices. The Lietuvos buhalterių asociacija (accountants association) relays the SME viewpoint.
ViDA roadmap — LT steps
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Lithuanian ViDA roadmap — 2026-2030 │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 2026 Q1-Q2 Public consultation Finansų ministerija │
│ ─ Scope (SMEs included?), format (strict EN 16931?), │
│ platform (extend e.sąskaita?) │
│ │
│ 2026 Q3-Q4 Consultation synthesis + bill draft │
│ ─ Preparatory Vyriausybės nutarimas │
│ │
│ 2027 Expected Seimas vote │
│ ─ Formal ViDA transposition into │
│ Mokesčių administravimo įstatymas + PVM įstatymas │
│ │
│ 1 Jan 2028 Optional B2B mandate │
│ ─ Issuance via e.sąskaita or PEPPOL Access Point │
│ ─ Strict EN 16931 UBL 2.1 format │
│ ─ Tolerance phase for SMEs until 2030 │
│ │
│ 1 Jul 2030 Strict EU cross-border B2B mandate │
│ ─ Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) active │
│ ─ Removal of intra-EU recapitulative statements │
│ ─ EU single VAT registration │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Lithuania vs other EU Member States
| Member State | Existing CTC | B2B e-invoicing | ViDA position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lithuania | i.SAF 2016 + RKDS 2014 | e.sąskaita B2G 2017 | Front-runner |
| Italy | SdI 2014/2019 | SdI mandatory 2019 | Front-runner |
| Hungary | RTIR 2018 | Not mandatory (RTIR reporting) | Advanced |
| Poland | JPK 2018 | KSeF mandatory 2026 | Advanced |
| Spain | SII 2017 | Crea y Crece (rolling 2026-2027) | Advanced |
| France | None before 2026 | Reform 2026-2027 | Catching up |
| Germany | None | B2B 2025-2028 progressive | Catching up |
| Belgium | None | B2B 2026 | Catching up |
Adoption — active PEPPOL Access Points
- Pagero — Sweden, pan-Baltic leader for cross-border flows.
- Tradeshift — runs an Access Point serving multinational corporates.
- Tieto Lithuania (Tieto Evry) — historic heir, strong positions at Maxima, Achema, banks.
- OpusCapita — Finland, central EU Access Point for the Baltic zone.
- Telia Lietuva — national operator, Telia Cygate branch for B2B connectivity.
- e.sąskaita — natively acts as a PEPPOL Access Point on the receiving side (ICD 0200).
Common pitfalls
- Thinking ViDA is tomorrow. The EU cross-border obligation is on 1 July 2030, not 2028. But Lithuania may unilaterally trigger an earlier domestic B2B mandate from 2028.
- Confusing B2G e.sąskaita and B2B mandate. e.sąskaita is mandatory in B2G since 2017. In B2B it is optional (yet usable). The B2B mandate will come with ViDA.
- Forgetting Digital Reporting Requirements. ViDA is not only mandatory e-invoicing — it is also near-real-time reporting to the tax authority. Lithuania already does it via i.SAF, but the interfacing will need adjustment.
- ICD 0200 mandatory post-2030. All inbound flows to a Lithuanian entity will need strict 0200. Legacy 9912 flows will be definitively rejected.
- SME tolerance phase. Very small taxable persons (sub-PVM threshold or very low T/O) will probably get a tolerance phase until 2030 — but the details are not yet fixed. To monitor in the 2026 consultation.