The Amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (hereinafter — the Amendments), due to enter into force shortly, will provide significant changes in the regulation regarding disclosure of beneficial...
Read full article...Changes in cash transactions from May 1, 2019On April 3, 2019, the parliament adopted amendments to the law On Taxes and Duties relating to additional restrictions with regard to cash transactions. According to the aforementioned...
Read full article...On June 27, 2016 the Council of the European Union adopted directive 2016/1065 amending Directive 2006/112/EC regarding the value added tax treatment to vouchers. New voucher rules simplify and harmonize the value added tax (VAT)...
Read full article...On the 1st of May, 2019, the Whistleblower law enters into force in the Republic of Latvia. What is the purpose of the Whistleblower law? The purpose of the law is to promote public awareness...
Read full article...Increased threshold of mandatory social security and voluntary contributions from 55 000 EUR to 62 800 EUR (amendments in the article 14 (5) of Law “On State social insurance”)Personal income tax highest progressive 31,4% rate is...
Read full article...Leinonen Latvia keeps growing and needs more professionals to join us.Currently we are looking for Tax advisor, Chief accountant and IT/marketing assistant.Recruitment will be done in cooperation with WorkingDay, please see full job descriptions and...
Read full article...We are delighted to inform our clients and partners that Leinonen has expanded its coverage of Eastern European markets to include Belarus. Our Minsk office is brand new and fully owned by our parent entity...
Read full article...All companies registered in Latvia are obliged to submit information on their beneficial owners to the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia (the Register of Enterprises) until March 1, 2018. The obligation follows...
Read full article...Let us remind on an exemption from taxation on the part of employer costs paid for staff catering up to EUR 480 per year (average EUR 40 per month) per employee in the Law "On...
Read full article...The Ministry of Finance has drafted amendments to the Law "On Taxes and Fees" which provides new requirements for transfer pricing documentation. It is expected that changes to the law will take effect as of...
Read full article...As we know, the new corporate income tax law will come into force on 1 January 2018. It foresees different tax calculation procedure and the tax base.In order to explain the application of the provisions...
Read full article...28 September 2017, Leinonen Latvia participated in the 7th annual conference Accounting Forum 2017 organised by the Association of Accountants of the Republic of Latvia (AARA). The conference gathers various organizations, companies, accountants, financial managers,...
Read full article...An important factor in a business development is effective advertising, networking with customers and partners and organization of various representative events. However, the correct and consistent classification of such costs in the company's accounting is...
Read full article...In this article, we will highlight the most important amendments to the Labour Law which came into force on 16 August 2017. Hourly salary rate. Until now, the procedure for calculating average earnings has been...
Read full article...Limited resources for small and medium-sized enterprises often limit companies to elaborate internal procedures for control of debtors. Moreover, the responsible staff may not know how to tackle situations when debtor has already terminated business...
Read full article...On 4 July 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers approved Regulations No. 397 "Regulations on the Report of the Group of Multinational Enterprises for Each Country" which foresee taxpayers to submit reports of multinational companies to the...
Read full article...In accordance with the amendments of Law “On Taxes and Fees" published, a new generation "Payment administration information system" (MAIS) or a single tax account will be introduced for tax payments on 1 January 2018....
Read full article...28 July 2017, the Parliament considered and adopted all the amendments planned within the tax reform including the new corporate income tax law. More on tax reform topics we enlightened in our news in April 26...
Read full article...Value added tax – the most risky tax. Information in the website of the State Revenue Service (SRS) on the results of tax audits carried out by the SRS for the first quarter of 2017...
Read full article...On 13 July 13 2017, amendments to the Commercial Law (hereinafter - the "Amendments"), which provide a new regulation regarding transactions between related parties of the company, will enter into force. The amendments are based...
Read full article...In April of this year, we provided a briefing on the main guidelines for tax reform planned for 2018, the link to the article is available here. One of the most important planned changes concern...
Read full article...To reduce the shadow economy, there are amendments planned in the law "On Taxes and Fees" that provide electronic working time recording system for construction projects as of 1 October 2017. The stipulated regulation in...
Read full article...27 April 2016, the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (hereinafter - the "Regulation") on the protection of processing of personal data and free movement of personal data repealing Directive 95/46 / EC was...
Read full article...On 18 May 2017, the draft amendments to Cabinet Regulation No.178 "Procedures for Application of Tax Relief Determined in International Agreements for Prevention of Double Taxation and Tax Evasion" ("Regulation No.178") have been announced in...
Read full article...While seeking ways to limit fraudulent practices, range of counterparties applying special VAT regime (VAT reverse) is being extended in Latvia. Nevertheless, the VAT reverse in domestic transactions between two Latvian VAT payers is applicable...
Read full article...In April 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers reviewed draft amendment of the law ''On Taxes and Fees" which foresee an obligation of taxpayers to submit a report, it structure, explanation of terms used of groups...
Read full article...It is planned that next week i.e., 3 May, the government will decide on the Latvian tax reform guidelines and further progress. As per the current government's position, changes in the law should be developed...
Read full article...1 April 2017, the amendments to the Law "On Excise Tax" were adopted establishing procedures for the movement of natural gas and excise duties for the calculation of the open natural gas market conditions and...
Read full article...According to the Commercial Law the merchant may temporary suspend its business activities for a period not exceeding 3 years by informing the Register of Enterprises and record it in the Commercial Register and the...
Read full article...End February 2017, the draft amendments of Labour Law were published that intend to revise remuneration of overtime amount, specify dismissal procedures of employee, competition restrictions application, critical remarks by employer or reprimand cancellation procedure,...
Read full article...As of 1 January 2017, amendments in relation to information to be provided to the State Revenue Service (SRS) on payments made to the non-residents have entered into force. According to the European Commission's requirements...
Read full article...This acquisition strengthens the business of Leinonen Group in Norway and increases the clientele. With this acquisition comes new personnel that bring deeper competences in Norwegian market. “It is great to gain deep local knowledge...
Read full article...There is very well known folk’ s wisdom that good life is just only where we are not living, and that the better way to understand is to compare. To understand how Latvia looks among...
Read full article...EU finance ministers are expected to discuss on Friday 27 January the December 2016 proposal from the European Commission to amend the VAT Directive with a temporary generalised reverse charge mechanism for all domestic supplies...
Read full article...In Estonia, an amendment to the Income Tax Act has been made which allows employers to compensate employee health promotion expenses without income and social tax for 100 euros per quarter. The amendment will come...
Read full article...Real estate related services 1 January 2017 the rules determining application of the value added tax (VAT) for real estate related services have entered into force. The said rules are defined in the European Union...
Read full article...The amendments to Micro-enterprise Tax Law and the Law "On State Social Insurance" adopted last year that provided separation of the micro-enterprise tax (MET) from the national social security contributions (SSIC) and implementation of a...
Read full article...Along with the state budget for 2017 amendments to several tax laws, including the Law "On Corporate Income Tax" (the Law) has been adopted recently. We would like to inform about the most important changes...
Read full article...Amendments to PIT law As of 1 January 2016, several amendments to the law “On personal income tax” (‘PIT law’) will enter into force. Tax relief on catering expenses of employees The current regulatory framework...
Read full article...Micro-enterprise tax (MET) payers are now faced with a dilemma whether to maintain status of the taxable person next year or to waive it. The main reason for it is the amendments to the Law...
Read full article...Every company, regardless of its economic activity, can face a situation where the business has to be suspended for some time of period or ceased entirely. What should be done by owners and management of...
Read full article...According to the Latvian statutory regulations each company must prepare internal accounting organization documents. Its purpose and content are set in the regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers No 585 "Regulations on the accounting records...
Read full article...The preparatory actions of the 2017 budget have started including consultations on the draft amendments to the tax laws. Herewith, main amendments to the Value Added Tax (VAT) Law will be briefly outlined. The project...
Read full article...In the scope of active cooperation among Latvian, international and group companies, employees are posted to work in another country or vice versa. Issues related to personal income taxation and state social insurance mandatory contributions...
Read full article...If a description of service is not sufficiently detailed indicated in an invoice, can it deprive the right to input tax deduction of a service recipient? If the VAT registration number of recipient is not...
Read full article...The Cabinet of Ministers accepted proposal of the National Tripartite Cooperation Council (NTCC)[1] Budget and tax Subcouncil on the tax reduction for one of social guarantees of collective agreement - catering costs. The employees’ income...
Read full article...Since 1 September 2016, the Register of enterprises of Republic of Latvia accepts documents completed in the new technological format i.e., Portable Document Format- PDF. New technological format recognises the content of application form,...
Read full article...Concluding an employment contract according to the Labour Law of Latvia parties should take into account regulation laid down in Section 40 of the Labour Law of Latvia. An employment contract shall include: the given...
Read full article...During State Secretaries' meeting, the draft amendments to the Law "On Taxes and Duties" (Tax Law) were submitted for the review providing taxpayer’s obligation to report suspicious and unusual transactions in the field of taxation...
Read full article...Since the beginning of this year, new rules for cash registers and cash systems have entered into force. The new rules were developed with the aim to introduce stricter technical requirements for use of cash...
Read full article...As of 1 July 2016, amendments to the VAT Law on special VAT treatment of cereals and industrial crops supplies have entered into force. Henceforward, consignee will pay VAT on domestic supplies if the transaction...
Read full article...A new Law on Annual Reports and Consolidated Annual Reports (hereinafter - the Law) has entered into force on 1 January 2016. It replaces the previous 2 laws - Law on Annual Reports and Law...
Read full article...If your company is registered as a VAT payer in Latvia and the costs incurred for ensuring economic activity in other EU Member States, there is a possibility that you are eligible for full or...
Read full article...VAT gap is undeclared and declared unpaid VAT amount ratio of potential VAT volume that would be calculated and charged if all taxpayers would fully meet tax obligations. According to the study[1] of the European...
Read full article...How do you describe the current business environment in the country? Are any new tax rate or legislation changes influencing it? If so, how? There are changes in legislation every year in Latvia. This year...
Read full article...As of year 2017, the minimum charge from state social insurance contributions (SSIC) has been defined according to the amendments to the Law "On State Social Insurance". The aim of the new regulation is to...
Read full article...In order to improve the social security system Latvian Parliament has adopted the amendments to the Law "On State Social Insurance" at first reading on 5 May 2016. One of the planned amendments concerns transfer...
Read full article...According to the government's action plan, it is necessary to improve public service system and achieve 90% of paperless document flow in the next three years. A draft law proposal on official email address is...
Read full article...With reference to statement issued by the State Revenue Service on 11 February 2016 in reply to the question on whether the merchant as per article 93 of the VAT Law, may deduct input VAT...
Read full article...A modernized EU Customs Code will enter into force on 1 May 2016. The elaboration of amendments involved several years and joint efforts of Member states. The amendments of the Customs Code are implemented with...
Read full article...The taxpayers who have registered their economic operation before 13 October 2015 are obliged to submit information on main economic activity for the previous tax year in the Electronic Declaration System of the State Revenue...
Read full article...Special application scheme for VAT, so-called VAT reverse charge mechanism on transactions on electronic goods i.e., mobile phones, tablets, laptops and integrated circuit devices including microprocessors and central processing units, shall enter into force according...
Read full article...Results of tax administration audits In accordance with information provided by Latvian State Revenue Service 55% of all taxes collected by Latvian tax authorities during tax audits in 2015 was value added tax (VAT). However,...
Read full article...There are considerable amount of court cases for judgment and preliminary ruling of European Union Court of Justice related to application of excise duty. Every case provides a new and valuable insight. This article on...
Read full article...Merchants often organize lotteries of goods and services to promote sales and attract new clients. Regulations for the lotteries are laid down in the Law On Lotteries of Goods and Services which states that a...
Read full article...Additions to information provided to State Labour Inspectorate (SLI) Currently, the employer posting an employee to work in Latvia is obliged to inform the SLI in written supporting relevant information and documentation. The proposed provisions...
Read full article...According to the amendments to the Cabinet Regulation No. 134 "Regulations on the electronic health information system" the required information on employee’s absence due to sickness will be available to the employers through Electronic Declaration...
Read full article...Preparations for submission of declaration of corporate income tax (CIT) for the previous tax year are soon approaching. It is worth considering involvement of tax consultants for preparation and/or review of CIT declaration. Leinonen Latvia...
Read full article...Personal income tax In 2016 has been reduced the number of persons for which the taxpayer is entitled to relief because the list excludes non-working spouses as well as parents and grandparents, for which relief...
Read full article...This year on November 30, the Saeima together with the state budget for 2016 was examining and adopted a number of amendments to the tax laws which will come into force on 1 January 2016...
Read full article...Office work, meeting with customers and corporate events involve potential costs. Every company is faced with questions on costs that may be regarded as representation expenses and expenses that cannot be justified. In relation to...
Read full article...Why should new rules be adopted? The existing rules were adopted in 2001 and have become obsolete, because they do not reflect legislative changes which have entered into force in last decade. Besides, in practice,...
Read full article...The new law has been drafted according to provisions laid down by the Directive 2013/34/EU passed on 26 June 2013 by the European Parliament. Introducing principles of mentioned directive in the new law, administrative burden...
Read full article...Corporate income tax is applied to non-resident income from property located and used in Latvia. However, corporate income tax law foresees tax exemptions i.e., the tax is not withheld from payments for use of industrial,...
Read full article...Draft amendments of VAT Act include following changes:1) a tax exemption for cultural services as from 1 January 2016 applies only to the cultural services provided by public persons, individuals who have been delegated administrative...
Read full article...The end of the reporting year is approaching and according to the law “On Accounting” at the end of each reporting year one should carry out stocktaking which identifies the amount of all the property...
Read full article...As per European Court of Justice (ECJ) and local court practice, the most common Value Added Tax (VAT) risk encountered by VAT payers in Latvia is VAT system complexity and counterparty failure in cross-border and...
Read full article...Currently, the Parliament is considering amendments to Micro-enterprise Tax Law ('Law'), which provide changes in tax rates and in other provisions, which, in turn, will affect the number of taxpayers in the near future.Restricted industriesOn...
Read full article...On 1 January 2013, came into force amendments to the Latvian law "On Personal Income Tax" (PIT Act), which provided for the payroll tax exemption for employee income received from rights to purchase employer’s shares....
Read full article...Since 13 August 2008 there is in force "Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Prevention Act" (the Act) whose objective is to prevent financing of terrorism and money laundering. Like elsewhere in the world also in...
Read full article...On October 13, 2015, Leinonen will hold a seminar “Value Added Tax - Intra-Community supplies and export - VAT rate and business partner related risks”. Language of the seminar - Latvian. If you are interested,...
Read full article...While the draft amendments of the tax laws have not yet been published, the Ministry of Finance has informed the public about planned amendments to the tax laws, which merchants are already actively discussing. We...
Read full article...Car tax objects and payers According to the Vehicle Operation Tax and Corporate Light Vehicle Tax Act (Car Tax Act) car tax is paid by merchants, branches of foreign merchants or farms for a light...
Read full article...The restriction of competition and social security If an individual receives a compensation for restriction of competition, it is subject to personal income tax and social security payments. The draft states that during the restriction...
Read full article...Not - declared salaries risk From July 1, 2015, taxpayers, who have been identified by Latvian tax administration’s (SRS) computerized system of risk analysis as payers of not- declared salaries (so - called “envelope” salaries),...
Read full article...On 26 May 2015 there were adopted the amendments to Cabinet Regulation No. 556 “Application of Rules of the Corporate Income Tax Act” (Cabinet regulation No.556) about the following. Determinated procedure for non-residents to prepare...
Read full article...VAT refund in the European Union (EU) is provided by Directive 2008/9/EC and Cabinet Regulation No.1514 - Procedures by which a Person Taxable with Value Added Tax shall Submit an Application for Receipt of a...
Read full article...Application of transferpricing and market price principle Transfer price is a price (value) that is applied in a transaction between related parties, namely, between Latvian taxpayer and its related foreign company within the meaning of...
Read full article...Amendments to the Law on Vehicle Operation Tax and Company Car Tax will come into force on 1 January 2016 and includes a number of clarifications in the tax administration, as well as additional exemption...
Read full article...If the company makes payments to non-residents – legal persons, and where such payments are subject to withholding (corporate income) tax at source, the company is obliged to keep record on made such payments and...
Read full article...1. Income from credit reduction or repayment Until now, the tax was not imposed on an individual's income received by reducing or repaying individual’s mortgage credit assumed by the individual until 1 January 2009 and...
Read full article...1. Increased fines on unfair commercial practice On 1st July amendments to the Unfair Commercial Practice Prohibition Law will come into force, expanding the rights of the Consumer Rights Protection Centre and other supervisory authorities in...
Read full article...Merchants, who issued loans to individuals, including their employees, are obliged to submit information to the State Revenue Service (SRS) by 1 June about loans, exceeding 15 000 euros which have been granted to the...
Read full article...Amendments to the Cabinet Regulation No. 178 “Procedures for Application of Tax Relief Determined in International Agreements for Prevention of Double Taxation and Tax Evasion” have come into force starting from 1 May 2015. ...
Read full article...Given that value added tax (VAT) provides about half of the total tax revenue of the State budget in Latvia, but at the same time, the amount of VAT fraud in the country is high,...
Read full article...The amendments to the Law On the Vehicle Operation Tax and Company Car Tax are being prepared for the third Parliamentary reading. They include a number of clarifications in the tax administration and the application...
Read full article...The draft regulation was developed on the basis of the Law “Amendments to the Law “On Taxes and Fees”” adopted by the Saeima on 17 December 2014 (entered into force on 1 January 2015). Law...
Read full article...1. Activities of Tourism Operators and Tourism AgentsThe draft amendments to Cabinet’ s regulations No. 353 “Regulations Regarding the Rights and Duties of Tourism Operators, Tourism Agents and Clients, the Procedures for the Preparation and...
Read full article...In March 2015 the Latvian State Revenue Service (SRS) has published VAT guidelines "For determining the place of supply of real estate related services". SRS instructions do not include references to the legislation on the...
Read full article...Micro-enterprise tax law provides that starting from 1 January 2015 micro-enterprise tax rate for micro-enterprise turnover exceeding EUR 7000 is increased from 9% to 11%. However, on 5 February 2015 the Saeima approved in the...
Read full article...The draft law of the Annual report and Consolidated annual report has been developed and published. It must be approved by 20 July 2015, as provided for in European Parliament and Council directive 2013/34/ES on...
Read full article...Although initially, the Cabinet of Ministers decided that the procedure for the use of electronic devices and equipment for tax and other payment registration and technical requirements for these devices and equipment will come into...
Read full article...The deadline for share capital conversion is slowly approachingIn connection with the introduction of the euro in 2014, the Commercial Law of the Republic of Latvia was amended. The changes provide that during the period...
Read full article...The seminar will take place on February 23, from 10.00 to 13.00. Entrance fee - € 25. On the seminar venue we will inform you separately.During the seminar we will discuss the following questions:• The...
Read full article...Personal income tax and the State compulsory social insurance contributions (social security tax) In 2015, personal income tax (PIT) rate is 23% of employees’ salary income (in 2014 – 24%). The amount of non-taxable income...
Read full article...This has already happened: Latvia was invited to join the Eurozone by the European Union in the summer of 2013. The exchange rate was confirmed to remain the fixed EUR 1 = LVL 0,702804. Latvia...
Read full article...Registered equity, Articles of Association, the Shareholders Register and the Register of Enterprises after the introduction of Euro in Latvia There are two parallel processes which every company has to consider and to finalise after...
Read full article...Forthcoming changes in the personal income tax law in Latvia According to the draft law the following changes will take place on the 1st of January 2014, or if so mentioned, on a later date....
Read full article...If an employee’s occupational code has changed, the employer must submit information to the SRS about the new occupational code within the next month.For employees registered with the SRS by their employer before 30 June...
Read full article...For our Riga office we are currently looking for a chief accountant:Responsibilities:Maintenance of the accounting records of Clients in accordance with local regulationsPreparation and submission of Clients VAT returns and tax returns in accordance with...
Read full article...Responsibilities:Providing tax advising and tax auditing services to clientsRequirements:University degree in Accounting, Finance or any other relevant disciplineAt least 3 years of experience in a similar positionGood knowledge of tax legislationThe ability to interpret and...
Read full article...Specific due dates for the issue of invoices have been provided for: 1) An invoice in respect of a transaction carried out in Latvia shall be issued within 15 days of the transaction date or...
Read full article...If a taxpayer provides both taxable and non-taxable supplies, the new VAT Act primarily provides for the keeping of separate accounting for the purposes of input tax deduction. Pro-rating shall only apply in cases where...
Read full article...As of 1 January 2013, a cash or non-cash advance issued to employees, board members, council members, shareholders or members will be treated as employment income if the advance or a part thereof is not...
Read full article...Under the transitional provisions of the Act, the applicable PIT rate shall be as follows: 24% - in the tax year 2013;22% - in the tax year 2014;As of 1 January 2015, income will be...
Read full article...Once per month we will send you an article keeping you up to date with the latest trends and developments in accounting, taxation or legal fields.
