Importing goods into Latvia as a company from outside the EU
Your company is based outside the EU and you want to bring goods in through Latvia, to sell them there or ship them on to buyers in other member states. Latvia does not make you appoint a fiscal representative, but deferring import VAT to the VAT return needs a VID permit that asks for 12 months of activity in Latvia. Goods supplied on, unprocessed, to a business in another member state within 30 days are imported at 0%.
What a non-EU importer deals with in Latvia
Each obligation, who carries it and when it applies.
| Obligation | Rule | Who | When or how long | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EORI number | Issued by the VID Customs Board to a non-EU company whose first customs formality is in Latvia | The importing company; a fiscal representative uses its own | Before the first formality; no processing time published | VID, EORI number |
| Customs declaration | The declarant must be established in the EU | A customs representative established in the EU | Each import | UCC art. 170 and 18 |
| VAT registration | The company or a person it authorises in Latvia registers; no fiscal representative required | The non-EU company | From the first taxable transaction | VAT Law art. 56(3) |
| Fiscal representative | Optional; if one acts, the company need not register | A representative with no tax debts or conviction | Registered in Latvia for more than 2 years | VAT Law art. 63(4), 65(1) |
| Import VAT, standard route | Paid with the customs debt | The importer | When the customs debt becomes payable | VAT Law art. 123(3) |
| Import VAT, special regime | Entered in the VAT return under a VID permit; 10% fine if left out | The permit holder, or the fiscal representative holding it | Permit after 12 months of activity and VAT registration | VAT Law art. 85, 123(1), 146(3) |
| Onward supply in the EU | 0% on import if the goods go, unprocessed, to a taxable person in another member state | The importer or its fiscal representative | Within 30 days | VAT Law art. 45(1)-(2) |
| Customs warehouse and free zone | 0% on supplies of non-EU goods not released for free circulation | The seller of goods held there | While the goods stay there | VAT Law art. 43(3) |
| Import bans | National ban on certain agricultural, feed and industrial products from Russia and Belarus, on top of EU sanctions | Every importer | Before ordering | VID, customs section |
The EORI, customs representation, customs warehouses and excise duties follow the same EU texts in every member state. How import VAT is paid and whether a fiscal representative is required are national choices (VAT Directive art. 204 and 211), compared in our guide to importing into Europe as a non-EU company. This page covers what Latvia decided, from the consolidated VAT Law on likumi.lv as read on 6 November 2026, last amended with effect from 1 January 2026.
EORI number and customs declarations in Latvia
The EORI comes from the VID. The declaration is lodged by someone established in the EU.
In Latvia the EORI number is issued by the Customs Board of the State Revenue Service (VID, Muitas pārvalde). Companies based outside the EU are entitled to one and apply in the member state of their first customs formality, so a non-EU company whose first formality takes place in Latvia applies to the VID (VID, EORI number; UCC art. 9(2)).
The VID accepts the application on paper at Talejas iela 1, Rīga, by email with an electronic signature to MP.lietvediba@vid.gov.lv, or through its Electronic Declaration System (EDS). The page, last updated on 29 September 2026, gives no processing time, so apply well before the first shipment (VID, EORI number).
The non-EU company applies itself
The company files with the VID and receives its own EORI, one number per operator for the whole EU (European Commission, EORI).
The representative's EORI and code Y042
When a fiscal representative acts for the non-EU company, it uses its own EORI number and enters its VAT number under code Y042 (VID, EORI number).
Who lodges the customs declaration
EU customs law requires the declarant to be established in the EU, apart from transit, temporary admission and an occasional declaration that customs accepts as justified. A non-EU company importing into Latvia on a regular basis therefore works through a customs representative established in the EU, acting in the company's name (direct representation) or in its own name for the company's account (indirect representation) (UCC art. 170(2)-(3) and 18).
Goods Latvia bans from Russia and Belarus
On top of EU sanctions, Latvia bans the import of certain agricultural products, animal feed and industrial products from Russia and Belarus. The VID customs pages state the ban without citing the legal act behind it (VID, customs section). Check the origin of each order against it before you buy.
Registering for Latvian VAT without a fiscal representative
Latvia lets a non-EU company register in its own name. A representative is a choice.
A company from outside the EU has to be registered for Latvian VAT from its first taxable transaction. It can register itself or through an authorised person, or let a fiscal representative act for it instead.
Register the company or an authorised person
The foreign company registers itself, or the person it authorises in Latvia (pilnvarotā persona) is registered. The law does not require a fiscal representative (VAT Law art. 56(3)).
Appoint a fiscal representative
If a fiscal representative acts for the non-EU company, the company does not have to register. The representative must have been registered in Latvia for more than 2 years, with no tax debts and no criminal conviction (VAT Law art. 63(4) and 65(1)).
The difference between the two shows once you want to defer import VAT.
Paying import VAT, and the permit to defer it
Without a permit, import VAT falls due with the customs debt. With one, it goes on the VAT return.
By default, import VAT in Latvia is paid when the customs debt becomes payable. Under the special regime, it is paid through the VAT return for the period in which the goods are released for free circulation (VAT Law art. 123(1) and (3)).
The special regime needs a VID permit, held by the registered taxable person or by the fiscal representative of a non-EU company. The main conditions are 12 months of activity in Latvia and of VAT registration, no tax debts, filing delays of 5 days at most over 12 months, and enrolment in the EDS. Without a permit, a guarantee covers the import VAT debt (VAT Law art. 85(2)-(4)).
The 12-month condition blocks a new importer
A non-EU company that registers for Latvian VAT this month cannot show 12 months of activity and registration, so in its first year it pays import VAT when the customs debt falls due. A fiscal representative registered in Latvia for more than 2 years that holds the permit can apply the special regime for its non-EU client from the first year. A Latvian SIA formed today faces the same 12-month condition (VAT Law art. 85(2)-(4)).
Equipment worth EUR 700 or more
The special regime applies without a permit to a capital good of at least EUR 700 excluding VAT, used for at least 12 months for taxable transactions, if the importer has no tax debt (VAT Law art. 85(5)).
The broker works under your permit
A customs broker may apply the special regime to your imports when the permit is in the importer's name (VAT Law art. 85(7)).
The fine for a missing entry
Once the special regime is applied, the import VAT has to appear in the VAT return. If it does not, the fine is 10% of the import VAT left out (VAT Law art. 146(3)).
Bringing goods in through Latvia for other EU countries
Two zero rates for goods that do not stay in Latvia.
Onward supply within 30 days
The import is taxed at 0% if the goods are supplied, without processing, to a taxable person in another member state within 30 days. The rule also applies when a fiscal representative acts for the non-EU company (VAT Law art. 45(1)-(2)).
Goods not released for free circulation
Supplies of non-EU goods held in a customs warehouse or a free zone, and not released for free circulation, are taxed at 0% (VAT Law art. 43(3)).
The EU rule behind procedure 42 sets three conditions: a VAT number of the importer, or of its fiscal representative, in the country of import; the customer's VAT number in the other member state; and proof of transport (Directive 2009/69/EC). For Latvia, that means a Latvian VAT number held by the company or its representative.
The free ports and special economic zones of Rīga, Ventspils, Liepāja and Rēzekne have their own tax law, which we have not reviewed in an official source.
From the first order to the import permit
In the order a new non-EU importer meets them, with the deadlines set by law.
Check the Latvian import bans
Certain agricultural, feed and industrial products from Russia and Belarus.
Get the EORI from the VID
On paper, by signed email or through the EDS. No processing time is published.
Register for Latvian VAT or appoint a fiscal representative
The company itself, a person it authorises in Latvia, or a representative registered for more than 2 years.
Declaration by a customs representative
Without a permit, import VAT is paid when the customs debt becomes payable.
Supply the goods on for the 0% rate
Unprocessed, to a taxable person in another member state, with proof of transport.
Apply to the VID for the import permit
No tax debts, filing delays of 5 days at most over 12 months, enrolment in the EDS.
Enter the import VAT in the VAT return
Under the special regime, an omission costs a fine of 10% of the VAT left out.
What the official sources we read do not settle
We have not found the following in an official source: how long the VID takes to issue an EORI number or the import permit (the permit procedure sits in a Cabinet of Ministers regulation we have not read), how the guarantee works for importers without the permit, the tax regime of the free ports and special economic zones, the national rules on customs warehouses, and Latvian excise rules for alcohol, tobacco and energy products. Confirm each of these with the VID or a licensed adviser before you rely on it.
What Balt Partners coordinates
We are based in Riga. The Latvian side is handled from here, and regulated advice comes from licensed advisers.
Import map and calendar
EORI, VAT registration, the permit conditions, the 30-day window and the import bans, set out for your goods with each deadline in one calendar.
SIA, bank account and accounting
If you want a Latvian company to hold the stock and the contracts, we form the SIA and coordinate its bank account and accounting set-up from Riga.
Coordination with the VID
We prepare the EORI application and the VAT registration file with you and coordinate them with the VID from Riga, then the permit application once the 12 months are reached.
Licensed advice where it is required
The customs representative you appoint lodges the declarations. A licensed local adviser handles VAT questions, including whether a fiscal representative suits your plans. FPFM SIA does not give legal or tax advice.
If you are weighing a Latvian company against registering your foreign one, our page on setting up a Latvian subsidiary of a foreign company explains that route. For other entry countries, see our country-by-country import-export overview.
Questions about importing into Latvia from outside the EU
No. A non-EU company can register for Latvian VAT itself, or through a person it authorises in Latvia, from its first taxable transaction. A fiscal representative becomes useful if you want to defer import VAT in your first year, because the VID permit asks for 12 months of activity and VAT registration in Latvia.
It applies to the Customs Board of the State Revenue Service (VID) if its first customs formality takes place in Latvia: on paper at Talejas iela 1 in Riga, by email with an electronic signature, or through the VID Electronic Declaration System. No processing time is published.
Yes, with a VID permit for the special import regime. Import VAT is then paid through the VAT return for the period of release for free circulation. The permit requires 12 months of activity and VAT registration in Latvia, no tax debts, filing delays of 5 days at most over 12 months and enrolment in the EDS.
The representative must have been registered in Latvia for more than 2 years, with no tax debts and no criminal conviction. When it acts for a non-EU company, that company does not have to register for Latvian VAT itself.
Yes. The import is taxed at 0% if the goods are supplied, without processing, to a taxable person in another member state within 30 days, including when a fiscal representative acts for the non-EU company.
In practice yes, if it imports regularly. EU customs law requires the declarant to be established in the EU, apart from transit, temporary admission and occasional declarations accepted by customs. A customs representative established in the EU lodges the declarations.
Where the special import regime is applied, the fine is 10% of the import VAT that was not entered in the VAT return.