Today’s reality shows that environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters are becoming central to new corporate strategies, increasing the importance of the role ESG leaders and experts play in organisations and their governance structure. A modern ESG leader not only has to understand the interaction between the various ESG matters and their impact on the company’s lines of business but must also be able to integrate ESG in the company’s operations, inspiring the other staff to action. PwC’s latest survey “Empowered Chief Sustainability Officers” offers insights into how the role of an ESG leader has evolved over time and how ESG leaders can make a tangible difference in their companies by combining the various ESG aspects with the company’s operations, thereby helping the company transform and undertake more sustainable operations. A key finding of the survey is that organisations whose governance structure has a clearly defined role of the ESG leader are able to achieve higher indicators in sustainability areas.

The term “deposit system” is fast becoming a household name. A mandatory deposit system for single-use and reusable drinks packaging became operational on 1 February 2022 in an attempt to prevent environmental pollution. The new deposit system applies to all beverage retailers and their outlets, filling stations, public catering companies selling bottled drinks etc. This article explores the accounting treatment for a retailer who is required to install a deposit system collection point close to his outlet.

We are inviting you to listen to a PwC tax podcast about the accounting control system, about the plans of the State Revenue Service to introduce penalties for delays in submitting mandatory declarations and reports, as well as about current issues related to the company's transfer.

Four years of work have been crowned with amendments passed to the VAT directive concerning a reduced rate of VAT on 5 April 2022. The new provisions will give the governments of the EU member states greater flexibility in applying the rates and will ensure transnational equality. The reduced rates clearly point to EU shared priorities, such as protection of public health, fight against climate change, and support for the European Green Deal, while preparing to phase out the current preferential regime for environmentally damaging supplies.

This article completes what we wrote last week.

For many years, challenging the receipt of intragroup services and commercial benefits has been among the most popular grounds for corporate income tax (CIT) assessments made by the State Revenue Service (SRS). Our analysis of one of the latest publicly available transfer pricing court cases leads to the conclusion that such a taxpayer dispute with the SRS has not lost its relevance. This article looks at an example from the Latvian court case – the taxpayer’s dispute with the SRS over missing evidence that the taxpayer has actually received management services from a related foreign company.