Import VAT and Duty in Lithuania

VAT Rates in Lithuania

The standard VAT rate in Lithuania is 21% (PVM (pridėtinės vertės mokestis)). Reduced rates of 9% and 5%.

Import VAT and customs duty in Lithuania are administered by VMI (Valstybinė mokesčių inspekcija, the State Tax Inspectorate), with customs functions under the same administration.

The rate applying on import is the rate that applies to a supply of the same or similar goods on the Lithuania domestic market, which is why correct commodity classification matters at the classification stage and not only at invoicing.

The Taxable Amount in Lithuania

Import VAT is calculated on the Customs value on a CIF basis, plus customs duty and other charges payable at importation. Freight and insurance to the point of entry into the EU are included in the customs value, so a shipment budgeted on goods value alone will understate the VAT payable.

Customs Duty in Lithuania

EU Common Customs Tariff applied through TARIC; the rate is set by the commodity code and origin. Duty is set by the commodity code and origin at the date the declaration is accepted — there is no single national rate that applies across a consignment.

Low-Value Consignments in Lithuania

The EUR 22 import VAT exemption was abolished EU-wide on 1 July 2021. There is no value below which a commercial import escapes VAT. The EUR 150 threshold relieves customs duty only. From 1 July 2026 a temporary flat duty of EUR 3 per item category applies to consignments at or below EUR 150, running until 1 July 2028.

Postponed Accounting in Lithuania

VAT-registered Lithuanian importers may account for import VAT through the VAT return rather than paying at the frontier. It is a cash-flow mechanism, not an exemption, and it does not apply to customs duty.

Planning Duty and VAT for Lithuania

Klaipeda handles the bulk of Lithuania's China-origin container traffic. Because it is a Baltic port, services frequently connect through a North European hub such as Rotterdam or Hamburg before the final Baltic feeder, so transit planning should allow for that connection. China-Europe block trains serve Lithuanian terminals and typically sit between air and sea on both cost and transit. From Klaipeda, cargo moves inland by road or rail into Lithuania and onward into the Baltics.

That routing, and the country-specific points below, are what turn a generic EU calculation into a Lithuania one. They belong in the landed-cost model from the outset rather than being discovered at clearance:

Frequently Asked Questions

The standard rate is 21% (PVM (pridėtinės vertės mokestis)). Reduced rates of 9% and 5%.

The taxable amount is the Customs value on a CIF basis, plus customs duty and other charges payable at importation. Freight and insurance to the point of entry into the EU form part of the customs value, so under-declaring freight understates the VAT.

No. The EUR 22 import VAT exemption was abolished EU-wide on 1 July 2021. The EUR 150 threshold that remains relieves customs duty only — it has never been a VAT threshold.

From 1 July 2026 a temporary flat duty of EUR 3 applies per declared item category on consignments valued at EUR 150 or less. It is charged on the declarant, not the consumer, and runs until 1 July 2028.

No. Postponed VAT accounting changes when and how import VAT is accounted for, not whether it is due. The VAT remains payable; it is declared through the VAT return rather than paid at the frontier.

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