Lithuania aligns the import VAT payment deadline with customs duty rules
- Jurisdiction
- 🇱🇹 Lithuania
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Compliance
- Status
- Enacted
- Impact
- Action required
- Announced
- 4 June 2026
- Effective
- 1 July 2026
- Instrument
- LT-LAW-XV984-2026
- Authority
- e-TAR — Teisės aktų registras
- Systems
- Customs, ERP, Reporting
- Verified
- Corroborated against official id · medium confidence
Importers into Lithuania using the special import VAT procedure under Article 115 of the VAT Law.
Importers into Lithuania using the special import VAT procedure should move import VAT payment scheduling onto the customs-duty calendar — on release, or the 16th of the following month under deferment.
CustomsERPReporting
Law No. XV-984, adopted on 4 June 2026, amends Article 115(17) of the Lithuanian Law on Value Added Tax (No. IX-751) to align the import VAT payment deadline with customs-duty rules under the Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013) from 1 July 2026. The previous standalone deadline — payment by the end of the second month following the month in which the liability arose — is removed; where the special import VAT procedure applies, import VAT is payable on release of the goods for free circulation, or by the 16th day of the following month where deferment has been granted.
What changed in detail
Law No. XV-984, adopted on 4 June 2026, amends Article 115(17) of the Lithuanian Law on Value Added Tax (No. IX-751) to align the import VAT payment deadline with the customs-duty rules of the Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013), with effect from 1 July 2026.
The previous standalone deadline — payment by the end of the second month following the month in which the liability arose — is removed. Where the special import VAT procedure applies, import VAT is now payable on release of the goods for free circulation, or by the 16th day of the following month where deferment of payment has been granted under the customs rules.
What it means
This pulls payment forward, in some cases by around six weeks. Under the old rule, VAT on a January import could sit unpaid until the end of March; under deferment it is now due on 16 February, and without deferment on release.
The change is easy to read as neutral because it is framed as alignment, and alignment sounds like tidying. It is not neutral for working capital. Importers using the special procedure should re-check cash-flow assumptions built on the old deadline, and confirm whether they hold a customs deferment authorisation — the difference between “on release” and “the 16th of the following month” is the whole benefit.