On 19 April 2023 the EU Official Journal published the European Commission’s decision (EU) No. 2023/829 of 17 April on an exemption from import customs duty and import VAT on goods intended for free distribution or transfer to persons fleeing the military aggression waged in Ukraine and to persons in Ukraine who need help.

As new types of assets and transactions emerge, amendments are made to Council Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. The European Commission has proposed new tax transparency rules for all service providers handling crypto-assets. On 16 May 2023 the EU finance ministers agreed on the compromise text of DAC8, which is coming up for approval soon.

One EU individual on average discards 11 kg of textiles a year. Globally, a consignment of textiles is buried or incinerated every second. The global production of textiles almost doubled over the period from 2000 to 2015. Clothing and footwear consumption is expected to grow by 63% by 2030. In this article we’ll be looking at some of the EU’s proposed measures to address the problem of textile waste, as well as discussing what’s being done in Latvia and what we can expect in taxation.