On taking a closer look at the findings of PwC’s corporate cyber resilience survey 2024 (Global Digital Trust Insights Survey) I realise that business leaders are greatly concerned about the potential costs of cyberattacks. These include a potential ransom payment in the event of a ransomware attack, system recovery, and potential compensations to customers for the company’s inability to supply its goods or services while it’s dealing with the consequences. Small companies may find such costs unaffordable.

From 13 December 2024, all economic operators subject to the new regulatory framework must start to apply Regulation 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council on general product safety (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulation”). The regulation imposes a number of obligations not only on manufacturers but also on importers, distributors and providers of online marketplace . It is therefore worth familiarising yourself with the regulation to avoid being unexpectedly penalised for non-compliance.

The obligation to register for VAT purposes depends not only on the registration threshold set in Latvia for domestic transactions (EUR 50,000), but also on the type of services supplied to a VAT payer of another EU Member State, if the place of supply of these services is determined under Section 19, Paragraph One of the VAT Law (the recipient of the service is responsible for the payment of VAT), or on the type of services received, the place of which is determined under the above-mentioned Section. According to the VAT Law, VAT registration is also required if the purchase of goods by a company in the territory of the EU reaches or exceeds EUR 10,000 in the current calendar year (currently, this threshold can be used not only by inland taxpayers but also by taxpayers from another EU Member State). The registration requirement has so far prevented SMEs from “enjoying” their status. Some changes have already come into force from 1 January 2025, others will become effective on 1 July 2025. This article looks at these changes.

At the end of 2024, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conducted a survey among Baltic CFOs to understand the key priorities, trends and challenges in the area of finance function management. CFOs from Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian companies representing different types of organisations – private companies, listed companies, state and municipal capital companies - took part in the survey.

As is already known, companies that carry out transactions with public authorities (B2G) are now obliged to issue a structured electronic invoice. From 1 January 2026, this requirement will also be mandatory for business-to-business (B2B) transactions. To ensure mandatory electronic invoicing locally, a solution for decentralised electronic invoicing via three electronic transmission channels is envisaged:

1. The free national delivery solution E-address;
2. PEPPOL service providers or operators (paid service);
3. Individual kind by agreement between the issuer and the recipient of the invoice regarding the transmission channel (email, direct software integration interfaces)

Tax transparency is becoming increasingly important in the context of corporate sustainability. Investors, consumers and other stakeholders are paying increasing attention to how companies manage their tax liabilities and reflected in sustainability reports. We previously informed our readers about  PwC’s 2023 study “Tax Transparency and Sustainability Reporting in 2023” in this field. This year, PwC published a new study covering the sustainability review practices of over 850 companies in 21 countries. This article summarises the key findings of PwC’s 2024 global study “Global Tax Transparency and Tax Sustainability Reporting Study”.