Are E-Invoices Mandatory for All Companies in Lithuania?

No. In the summer of 2026, not every company in Lithuania has to issue e-invoices. It depends on who you’re selling to. If your customer is a public-sector body or another contracting authority, the invoice has to move electronically through SABIS and the Peppol network — that B2G requirement has applied since 1 July 2017 ^[5]. For invoices between private companies (B2B) and to private consumers (B2C), there’s no structured e-invoice obligation right now: the European Commission’s country profile for Lithuania confirms no such mandate exists ^[5]. You can still send a Lithuanian business partner a PDF or paper invoice, as long as they agree to it ^[2]. The bigger shift comes with the EU’s ViDA reform — mandatory e-invoicing for cross-border B2B transactions starts on 1 July 2030 ^[6].

When Is an E-Invoice Actually Required in Lithuania?

The core of the obligation is the public sector. Suppliers working under public procurement contracts have had to issue structured e-invoices since 1 July 2017, and public-sector bodies must receive and process them electronically ^[5]. The cases where electronic financial documents have to be submitted to public-sector entities and other contracting authorities are set out in Government Regulation No 405, adopted on 27 April 2022 and in force from 1 May 2022 ^[1].

Since 1 January 2025, public-sector invoices generally have to comply with the European standard EN 16931 and travel through the Peppol network. The only way around this is if the sender genuinely lacks the technical capability and enters the data manually into the state system instead ^[1]. In practice this all runs through SABIS (Sąskaitų administravimo bendroji informacinė sistema), which replaced the older eSąskaita system in 2024. SABIS is connected to the Peppol network, and in 2025 it processed over 3.8 million invoices for more than 114,000 users ^[4].

Are PDF and Paper Invoices Still Allowed for B2B and B2C?

Yes. Lithuania’s tax authority (VMI) states plainly that a VAT invoice can be issued on paper or electronically, and both carry the same legal and tax force ^[2]. There’s one condition for the electronic version: issuing it requires the buyer’s prior agreement, which can be given in writing or inferred from their conduct ^[2]. So if you sell to a private customer in Lithuania, your current PDF or paper invoice doesn’t suddenly become unlawful in 2026.

What’s the Difference Between an E-Invoice, a PDF, SABIS, and i.SAF?

This is where the confusion usually starts, because four things sound alike but mean different things.

• E-invoice — a structured, machine-readable document (for example in the EN 16931 format) that moves from one system into another with no manual re-keying.
• PDF invoice — an image or document file. It’s “electronic” only in the sense that it arrives by email. It is not a machine-readable data flow.
• SABIS — not an invoice format but the system for delivering and processing public-sector invoices, connected to the Peppol network ^[4].
• i.SAF — the submission of VAT invoice register data to VMI. It’s a reporting obligation, not a structured e-invoice obligation ^[3].

VAT-registered businesses have to keep a register of the VAT invoices they issue and receive, and submit that data through i.SAF ^[3]. This duty applies regardless of whether the invoice itself was on paper, a PDF, or a structured e-invoice.

Do Company Size, VAT Status, or the €1,000 Threshold Change Anything?

For the B2G obligation, none of it depends on the size of your company or your VAT status. The buyer decides. If the other party is a public-sector entity or a contracting authority, the invoice goes through SABIS; if it’s a private company or a consumer, it doesn’t.

One old exception is now gone. The temporary carve-out for oral contracts below €1,000 (excluding VAT) ended on 31 December 2024, so it no longer applies in 2026 ^[1]. Submitting i.SAF register data is mandatory for VAT taxpayers, except those applying Lithuania’s small-business scheme ^[3].

What Changes with ViDA from 2030?

The European Commission’s 2026 ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) programme says that from 1 July 2030, cross-border B2B transactions come under new Digital Reporting Requirements built on mandatory e-invoicing, and the e-invoice becomes the default method of invoicing ^[6]. Member states that already run their own domestic real-time reporting system have to bring it into line with the single EU system by 1 January 2035 at the latest ^[6].

An important distinction: ViDA does not create a domestic B2B mandate for Lithuania in 2026. If you invoice private Lithuanian customers, you have time to prepare for the move to structured e-invoicing — not an obligation to do it today. For cross-border trade, though, 1 July 2030 is worth marking in the calendar now.