KMD and KMD INF Line by Line: How to Read Your Estonian VAT Return
If you’ve ever stared at your filed KMD wondering whether box 1 or box 3.1 was the right place for a sale, you’re not alone — there is almost no plain-English walkthrough of this form anywhere online. This guide fixes that: what the KMD is, what every box actually reports, how the totals are calculated, what the KMD INF annex adds, and the mistakes that trip up small Estonian companies most often.
The short answer
The KMD is Estonia’s monthly VAT return, due by the 20th of the month following the taxable period, filed by every VAT-registered person.
Box 4 is total output VAT and box 12 is VAT payable — both are formulas, not inputs you type freely.
Boxes 11, 12, 21, 22 exist only for transitional supplies taxed at the old 20%/22%/13%/5% rates before the standard rate became 24% on 1 July 2025.
KMD INF lists your invoices one by one; a counterparty must be listed once your total business with them in the period reaches €1,000 excluding VAT.
EMTA cross-matches your KMD INF sales listing (Part A) against your customers’ own KMD INF purchase listing (Part B) — mismatches are exactly what triggers a query.
The most common small-company errors are a reverse charge entered backwards, an EU B2B sale treated as domestic, and input VAT claimed on a personal expense.
What is the KMD, and who has to file it?
The KMD is Estonia’s value-added tax return. It reports, for one calendar month, everything you sold, everything you bought that carries VAT, and the VAT balance you owe or are owed. Only VAT-registered persons file it — a company below the €40,000 annual turnover threshold that hasn’t registered voluntarily has nothing to file. Once you’re registered, the KMD is due every month without exception, even in a month with zero turnover, because a nil return is still a return.
The KMD is filed together with its annex, the KMD INF, and — in months with intra-Community goods supplies — alongside the separate VD form (the EU sales list). All of these share the same 20th-of-the-following-month deadline. File and payment are two different actions: submitting the form doesn’t move any money, and the VAT itself is paid separately into your EMTA prepayment account by the same date.
The KMD isn’t a form you fill in freely — most of its important boxes are formulas that recompute from the boxes above them. If your total doesn’t match, the input is wrong somewhere, not the arithmetic.
Why do old rates like 20% or 13% still show up on a 2026 return?
Because the KMD form still carries dedicated boxes for supplies invoiced under the old rates before the rate change took effect. Estonia’s standard VAT rate has been 24% since 1 July 2025, and the reduced rate is 9%. But a cash-accounting supplier who issued an invoice before the change can still report that specific transaction at the rate that applied when the invoice was issued — 20% or 22% instead of 24%, or 5%/13% instead of 9%. Those transitional boxes will keep appearing on returns for a while yet, purely because of timing, not because the underlying rates changed again.
For the vast majority of monthly filings in 2026, you’ll only ever touch the current-rate boxes. Treat the transitional ones as a rare exception, not as evidence that Estonia runs four VAT rates at once.
What goes in each box of the KMD?
The table below lists every numbered box on the current KMD form (valid from 1 July 2025) with a plain-English note on what belongs in it. Sub-boxes (like 3.1 inside 3) are informative breakdowns of the box above them — they don’t add extra tax on top.
Box | What it reports | Plain-English note |
|---|---|---|
1 | Supplies taxed at the standard 24% rate | Your normal domestic sales at the current rate. |
11 | Same, at 20% | Transitional — pre-1 July-2025 invoice under cash accounting. |
12 | Same, at 22% | Transitional — same logic as 11, different legacy rate. |
2 | Supplies taxed at the reduced 9% rate | Books, accommodation, medicines and similar reduced-rate goods/services at the current rate. |
21 | Same, at 5% | Transitional — press publications under cash accounting, pre-2025 supply. |
22 | Same, at 13% | Transitional — accommodation under cash accounting, pre-2025 supply. |
3 | Total supply taxed at 0% | Zero-rated sales; broken down into 3.1 and 3.2 below. |
3.1 | — of which: intra-Community supply of goods and certain listed services | B2B sales to a VAT-registered buyer in another EU member state. |
3.1.1 | — of which (within 3.1): intra-Community goods specifically | The goods-only slice of box 3.1. |
3.2 | — of which: exports of goods | Sales physically leaving the EU. |
3.2.1 | — of which (within 3.2): tax-free exports to travelling passengers | Passenger VAT-refund sales specifically. |
4 | Total output VAT | = 24%×box1 + 20%×box11 + 22%×box12 + 9%×box2 + 5%×box21 + 13%×box22. |
41 | VAT payable on import of goods | Only if you hold specific authorisation to self-account import VAT this way. |
5 | Total input VAT deductible by law | Your reclaimable purchase-side VAT, broken down into 5.1–5.4 below. |
5.1 | — VAT paid/payable on imports | The import-VAT slice of box 5. |
5.2 | — VAT paid/payable on acquisition of fixed assets | Equipment, property and similar capital purchases. |
5.3 | — cars used 100% for business | Count of cars plus the input VAT deducted on them. |
5.4 | — cars used partially for business | Count of cars plus input VAT, capped at 50% deduction. |
6 | Intra-Community acquisitions received (informative) | Goods/services you bought from an EU seller, taxed at 24% or 9%. |
6.1 | — of which: goods specifically | The goods-only slice of box 6. |
7 | Other reverse-charge acquisitions (informative) | Installed/assembled goods, triangular transactions, purchases from non-established foreign suppliers. |
7.1 | — of which: immovables, scrap metal, precious metal, metal products | The domestic reverse-charge regime under VAT Act §41¹. |
8 | Supply exempt from VAT | Genuinely exempt supplies, not zero-rated ones. |
9 | Special-regime supply (informative) | Property/scrap-metal/precious-metal/metal-product sales under §41¹, plus goods to be installed abroad. |
10 | Upward input VAT adjustments | Annual proportional-deduction true-up, fixed-asset or car-use-change adjustments. |
11 (bottom section) | Downward input VAT adjustments | Same categories as box 10 — never filled together with box 10 in the same return. |
12 | VAT payable | = box4 + box41 − box5 + box10 − box11 (bottom). |
13 | VAT overpaid | Same formula as box 12, shown here when it comes out negative. |
How does box 4 (output VAT) actually add up?
Box 4 is not something you type in — it’s the sum of every rate-specific box multiplied by its rate: 24% of box 1, plus 20% of box 11, plus 22% of box 12, plus 9% of box 2, plus 5% of box 21, plus 13% of box 22. If your accounting software shows a box 4 figure that doesn’t reconcile to that sum, one of the underlying boxes has the wrong amount in it, not box 4 itself.
How does box 12 (VAT payable) get calculated?
Box 12 is box 4 plus box 41 (import VAT you self-account for) minus box 5 (your deductible input VAT), plus any upward adjustment in box 10 minus any downward adjustment in the bottom-section box 11. When that result is negative, it appears instead in box 13 as VAT overpaid — the same formula, just read as a refund position rather than a liability.
What’s the difference between box 3 (zero-rated) and box 8 (exempt)?
Box 3 covers supplies taxed at 0% — intra-Community sales and exports, where VAT is charged at a genuine zero rate and the right to deduct input VAT on related costs still exists. Box 8 covers supplies that are exempt from VAT altogether — a different legal category, where input VAT tied to that activity generally can’t be deducted. Confusing the two is one of the more common classification slips on a small company’s return.
What is the KMD INF, and what do parts A and B report?
KMD INF is the invoice-level annex filed together with the KMD every month. Where the KMD reports totals by rate and category, KMD INF breaks those totals down invoice by invoice — which is exactly why it exists: it lets EMTA verify the KMD totals against the underlying transactions, and cross-check your figures against your counterparties’ own filings.
Part A — invoices issued | Part B — invoices received | |
|---|---|---|
What it lists | Your sales invoices with VAT-taxable supply | Purchase invoices where you deduct the VAT shown |
Rates covered | 24%/9% and, in transitional cases, 22%/20%/5%/13% | Same rate set, mirrored from the purchase side |
Key columns | Counterparty ID, invoice number/date, value excl. VAT, rate, portion presented in KMD boxes 1/11/12/2/21/22 | Counterparty ID, invoice number/date, value incl. VAT, VAT amount, portion presented in KMD box 5 |
Special codes | 01 = travel-service special scheme; 02 = property/metal reverse-charge; 03 = mixed-rate invoice | 11 = partial deduction; 12 = property/metal reverse-charge, self-accounted |
When does a counterparty have to be listed?
A counterparty must appear on KMD INF once your invoice total with them in the taxation period reaches €1,000, excluding VAT — either on a single invoice or across several invoices to the same partner. The threshold is calculated separately for Part A and Part B, and separately for regular invoices versus credit invoices; if either total crosses €1,000, every invoice with that partner in the period gets listed, credit invoices included. You may voluntarily list invoices below the threshold, but only transactions with legal persons, self-employed persons, and state or municipal bodies count toward it — sales to an ordinary private individual are excluded regardless of the amount.
As of the current official instructions, the threshold sits at €1,000 with no announced change on file. That’s the up-to-date figure, not a promise it will stay fixed forever — a threshold like this can move with future rule changes, so it’s worth a quick check against emta.ee before you rely on it for a borderline case.
Why does EMTA bother with invoice-level detail at all?
Because it lets the tax authority cross-match two independent filings automatically. Your Part A entry for an invoice to Company X should line up with Company X’s own Part B entry for that same invoice — same amount, same VAT, same invoice number. If your sales listing says you invoiced €5,000 and your customer’s purchase listing says they received €4,500, that mismatch surfaces without anyone doing a manual audit. This is the single most useful thing to understand about KMD INF: it isn’t just paperwork duplication, it’s a matching mechanism, and getting invoice details wrong on your side is what invites a query, not the size of the transaction.
What mistakes show up most often in a small company’s KMD?
Most KMD errors in small Estonian companies aren’t calculation mistakes — the form’s totals are formulas, so arithmetic rarely breaks. They’re classification mistakes: the right euro amount lands in the wrong box, or on the wrong side of a reverse charge. The list below covers the ones that recur most.
Reverse charge entered in the wrong direction — treating a purchase where you should self-account for VAT as if the seller charged it, or vice versa, so the VAT never appears where it should on either the output or input side.
An EU B2B sale treated as domestic — reporting an intra-Community supply of goods or services in box 1 or box 2 instead of box 3.1, which overstates output VAT and misreports the transaction type entirely.
Input VAT claimed on a non-business expense — a personal purchase, entertainment cost, or anything not genuinely used for the business ends up reducing box 5 when it shouldn’t be deductible at all.
A missing counterparty registration number — an incomplete or wrong ID code on a KMD INF line breaks the automatic cross-match on EMTA’s side, even when the euro figures are correct.
Timing differences between invoice date and payment date — mixing up the period an invoice belongs in (issue date) with when it was paid can shift a transaction into the wrong month’s return, especially near month-end.
Zero-rated supply reported as exempt, or the reverse — box 3 and box 8 are legally distinct categories with different input-VAT consequences, and treating one as the other misreports the deduction position.
What should you do if you find an error in a return you already filed?
You correct it, rather than adjusting the current month to compensate. EMTA’s practice is to fix errors in the original period the mistake belongs to — you file a corrected KMD (and KMD INF, if the invoice-level detail was wrong) for that specific month, not a catch-up entry in the month you noticed the problem. The sooner you catch it, the smaller the knock-on effect: an error sitting in a filed return can distort the same figure in every later month if it feeds into a running total, like an input VAT proportional-deduction adjustment.
Identify exactly which box and which period the error affects — a misclassified box 1 sale is a different fix than a wrong KMD INF counterparty code.
Recalculate that period’s KMD (and KMD INF where the invoice detail changes) with the correction, keeping the original filing for reference.
Submit the corrected return through e-MTA for that period rather than folding the adjustment into the current month.
If the correction changes VAT payable, expect a related adjustment on your EMTA prepayment account and check whether late-payment interest applies for the underpaid period.
Flag the pattern to whoever prepares your accounting so the same misclassification doesn’t repeat next month.
If you’re not confident diagnosing which box an error belongs in, that’s exactly the kind of check an accountant should run before a correction goes in — a wrong fix on top of a wrong filing compounds the problem rather than closing it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the deadline for filing the KMD?
The KMD, together with KMD INF, is due by the 20th of the month following the taxation period. The same date applies to paying any VAT owed, and to the separate VD form in months with intra-Community goods supplies.
Do I have to file a KMD if I had no sales that month?
Yes. Once you’re VAT-registered, a nil month still requires a nil return by the 20th — VAT registration itself, not turnover in a given month, is what triggers the monthly obligation.
What’s the difference between box 1 and box 3.1 on the KMD?
Box 1 is domestic supply taxed at the standard 24% rate. Box 3.1 is the intra-Community supply of goods (or certain listed services) to a VAT-registered buyer in another EU country, taxed at 0%. Putting an EU B2B sale in box 1 by mistake is one of the most common misclassifications.
Why does my KMD show a 20% or 22% rate when the standard rate is 24%?
Those are transitional boxes for supplies invoiced before the rate change took effect on 1 July 2025, reported under cash accounting. They only apply to specific pre-existing invoices, not to new transactions, and should be rare on a current return.
What triggers a counterparty being listed on KMD INF?
Your total invoiced value with that single business partner in the period reaching €1,000, excluding VAT — calculated separately for sales invoices (Part A) and purchase invoices (Part B). Sales to private individuals don’t count toward this threshold.
Can I voluntarily list invoices below the €1,000 threshold?
Yes. Listing below-threshold invoices is allowed even though it isn’t required — some companies do this for consistency across their bookkeeping, though it adds no compliance benefit on its own.
What happens if my KMD INF entry doesn’t match my customer’s own filing?
EMTA’s system is built to cross-match Part A entries against the corresponding Part B entries on the other side of the transaction. A mismatch in amount, invoice number, or counterparty ID is precisely the kind of discrepancy that can prompt a query, so accuracy on invoice-level detail matters as much as getting the KMD totals right.
Is box 8 (exempt supply) the same as box 3 (zero-rated)?
No. Box 3 is taxed at a genuine 0% rate with input VAT still deductible on related costs. Box 8 covers supplies that are exempt from VAT under a different legal basis, where the input-VAT deduction position is generally different. They are not interchangeable categories.
How do I fix a mistake in a KMD I already submitted?
File a corrected return for the original period the error belongs to, rather than adjusting a later month to compensate. This applies to both the KMD and, if invoice-level detail changed, the KMD INF for that same period.
