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.
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.
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown the global economy into recession. However, the warning issued by the industry experts and backed by the authors of a World Bank study that the economy will experience a rapid increase in the number of insolvency proceedings and legal protection proceedings (LPP) at the end of Covid-19, has not come true as yet. This is because the financial difficulties brought on by the pandemic were countered with an unprecedented government intervention in the market and a huge package of financial aid, including working capital grants and idleness benefits. The economic downturn is now being aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the consequences of the war are pushing up energy prices and fuelling price rises in general, inevitably leading to debt crises. Latvia seems likely to face an inevitable wave of insolvencies and LPP, so this article aims to introduce companies to Latvian LPP and out-of-court workouts in simple terms in order to highlight the characteristics of these debt restructuring tools, as well as the role of the debtor, the creditors and the supervisor within these proceedings.
Every two years the Ministry of Welfare prepares an informational report on the operation and development of social enterprises (SEs) for submission to the Cabinet of Ministers. The latest report on SE development, with information relevant to companies seeking SE status, was submitted on 30 March 2022. This article explores what SE status is and what aid measures it offers, as well as providing an overview of the information included in the report and of proposals for amending the SE Act.
The preparation of annual accounts is relevant to each company, and this process often involves making multiple changes that have a direct effect on the numerical information presented in the company’s financial statements. Accounting software mostly ensures automatic preparation of the balance sheet and the profit and loss account, yet companies, depending on their size, may have to produce a number of notes that tend to take a long time to prepare. In this article we share recommendations for accelerating the technical preparation of financial statements.
Since war broke out in Ukraine, many people have been eager to help Ukrainian people with various donations. Last week we wrote about the Latvian VAT treatment of donations and how the tax rules should be changed to cover various cases. This article explores the corporate income tax (CIT) treatment of donations.
Looking for shelter from the war, Ukrainian civilians are emigrating en masse. Several thousands of refugees have entered Latvia, and some Latvian companies have already come forward to employ them. This article explores the tax treatment of these persons being employed in Latvia.
As the war in Ukraine goes on, many companies have unselfishly donated to Ukrainian residents and to Ukrainian refugees having crossed the EU border. Does the current tax regime encourage donations? And how has the Latvian government responded to the present situation?
After the Russian Federation decided on 23 February 2022 to recognise the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic as independent states, followed by the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, the EU, the UK, the US and Canada as well as other countries have launched wide-ranging sanctions aimed at changing Russia’s behaviour and eliminating the current threats in Ukraine and CEE.
We are having to do our jobs and deliver results in a very complex and multifaceted environment caused by the rapid global change. The list of decision-making criteria has also become quite long. On the one hand, companies still focus on making a profit, but ESG matters often dictate a diametrically opposite approach. Change is inevitable and leaders must be able to benefit from various approaches that might initially seem conflicting and incompatible. In our December edition of Flash News we wrote about six paradoxes of leadership. This article explores them in detail
We are experiencing the consequences of climate change more and more – through extreme weather conditions and changes in nature. To mitigate climate change and tackle problems associated with environmental degradation, the EU has set ambitious goals to achieve a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to become climate neutral by 2050. The European Green Deal is a strategy designed to help Europe achieve the goal of climate neutrality.
If a company finds it is governed by the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism and Proliferation Financing (AML/CTPF) Act, it has two priority steps to take: register as an entity subject to the Act after stating a type of activities governed by the Act, and appoint an officer responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act’s requirements under section 10. This appointment must be reported to the relevant supervisory authority such as the State Revenue Service or the Financial and Capital Markets Commission.
