Quick overview
| Standard Rate | Other Rates |
| 21% | 5% and 9% |
The local name for VAT in Lithuania is ”Pridetines vertes mokestis” (PVM)
There are basically 3 VAT rates in Lithuania:
- Standard VAT rate is 21%
- Reduced VAT rate is 5 and 9%
Recent developments
Recently, Lithuania published some changes for COVID-19 vaccines and in vitro diagnostic devices. Further, a reduced rate is applied on protective face masks.
A VAT rate of 9% (from 21%) will apply on hospitality, sporting and cultural services as of July 1, 2021 until December 31, 2021.
For more information about (recent) rate change developments in Lithuania, please click here.
Standard rate: 21%
This is in place since 1 September 2009. Before that, the standard rate was 19%. This rate applies for all transactions that take place in Lithuania, unless an exception applies (such as a reduced rate, the zero rate or an exemption, or a reason to treat the transaction as outside scope of VAT).
Zero rate (0%)
Lithuania applies various exemptions with a refund of tax paid at preceding stages (zero rates), such as intra-Community and international transport, intra-Community supplies of goods, exports of goods (and related services) to non-EU countries, sea vessels and aircraft and related goods/services, and services to goods and goods under customs control.
Reduced rate 1: 5%
Examples of transactions subject to this rate are:
- Medicines and medical aid products, subject to full or partial compensation from the state medical insurance budget, as well as non-compensated prescription medicines
- Technical equipment that is used to assist persons with disabilities as well as for the repair services of such equipment
- Newspapers, magazines and other periodicals, with the exception of those with erotic or violent content or those that do not comply with professional ethics publications, as well as printed productions in which more than 4/5 of the content is paid advertising (valid from 1 January 2019)
- Electronic newspapers, magazines and other electronic periodicals, with the exception of those with erotic or violent content or those that do not comply with professional ethics publications; as well as printed productions in which more than 4/5ths of the content is paid advertising (valid from 1 January 2021)
Reduced rate 2: 9%
Examples of transactions subject to this rate are:
- Supplies of books and printed non-periodical materials such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, children books and maps
- Heating and hot water supplies to residential premises
- Firewood and wood products intended for heating supplied to household energy consumers
- Newspapers, magazines and other periodicals, with the exception of those with erotic or violent content or those that do not comply with professional ethics publications, as well as printed productions in which more than 4/5 of the content is paid advertising (valid until 31 December 2018)
- Accommodation services provided in accordance to the laws regulating tourism activities
- Public transportation and the related passenger luggage carrying services.
- Books and non-periodical publications (including students’ books, exercise books, encyclopedia, dictionaries, manuals, information leaflets, photography and reproduction albums, illustrated children’s books, drawing and coloring books, printed or manuscripts sheets, maps, schemes and graphics, however, with the exception of calendars, note books and similar printed matter).
For a description of how the VAT rates are structured in the European Union, please see here. The European Commission has also made an EU VAT rate database available where you can find the applicable VAT rate by entering the CN/CPA code of the goods respectively services (you can find more information here).
A global VAT/GST rate overview can be found here (note this is a work in progress).
This post was last updated on June 5, 2021.
