Invoice number (rēķina numurs)
In Latvian: Rēķina numurs
An invoice number (rēķina numurs) is a sequential number in one or more series that uniquely identifies the invoice. It is required by Section 125(1)(2) of the VAT Law and Article 226(2) of the EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC.
Cabinet Regulation No. 877 says a source document number must contain at least the sequential number of that document type. The number is assigned when the document is prepared, documents may be numbered by type, and the business chooses its own markers, such as a year prefix or series letters.
The regulations do not use the words "consecutive" or "gapless". A VAT payer does, however, keep a cancelled tax invoice in its records to explain why the sequence was broken. Two invoices with the same number in one series are not allowed, because the number would no longer identify the invoice uniquely.
Parallel series are allowed, for example a separate series for credit notes or for another place of business, as long as the numbers in each series are sequential.
Example
SIA "Ozols" uses the series "OZ-2026-" for invoices and "KR-2026-" for credit notes. Invoice OZ-2026-018 was spoiled and cancelled, so the next one is OZ-2026-019, and the cancelled document stays in the books as the explanation.
How Fakts handles it
Fakts assigns the number when the invoice is issued, in a series per company and per year, so two invoices issued at the same moment never share a number and none is skipped.
Legal basis
- VAT Law, Section 125 likumi.lv
- VAT Law, Section 129 likumi.lv
- Cabinet Regulation No. 877, paragraphs 26–28 likumi.lv
This explanation is for information and does not replace tax or legal advice. The law in its current consolidated text prevails.