Lithuania's i.SAF reporting: how invoices to foreign clients are declared

A Kaunas furniture manufacturer issues invoices to clients in Sweden, Germany and the US, and buys hardware from Poland and software from America. Every one of those documents goes into a monthly register uploaded to the State Tax Inspectorate through i.SAF. When the register and the VAT return disagree, the VMI notices before the company does.

What i.SAF is

i.SAF is the VMI's invoice data subsystem, part of its electronic accounting system. Every Lithuanian VAT payer submits a register of the invoices it issued and received each month, in a standard XML format generated by accounting software or entered through the VMI portal. The deadline is the 20th of the following month.

It is a reporting obligation for data. The invoices themselves can be PDFs for private-sector clients. Public sector buyers receive e-invoices through the eSaskaita system.

Foreign transactions are in it

The register is complete, not domestic-only. It includes:

• sales to EU businesses, with their VAT numbers,
• sales to businesses outside the EU,
• purchases from EU and non-EU suppliers, including services such as software subscriptions.

For each, the counterparty's country and identifier go in. Missing foreign purchases are a common reason the VMI asks questions, because reverse-charge VAT on them should also appear in your return.

VAT on foreign sales

For most services to EU businesses, the invoice shows no Lithuanian PVM, includes both VAT numbers and refers to the reverse charge. Intra-EU sales also go in the EU sales list. For services to businesses outside the EU, the invoice states that they are not subject to Lithuanian VAT.

Getting paid

Lithuania uses the euro and is in SEPA, so EU clients pay a Lithuanian IBAN directly. American clients asked to pay a Lithuanian IBAN send an international wire, which may lose fees on the way and, into a euro account, is converted at the bank's rate. US account details in the company's own name let them pay by ACH, in full.

Paying into Lithuania: the local rail

Source: European Payments Council: SEPA Instant Credit Transfer. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

Rivet does not submit i.SAF registers; your accounting software does that. A Rivet business account handles foreign collections: US account details on every plan, and euro details with an IBAN plus sterling details from the Growth plan, all in the company's name. Payments are matched to invoices, and each statement line carries the rate for your bookkeeper. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.