The topic continued from MindLink.lv news 24.07.2020. Based on EU and Latvian legislation, in 2019 the Financial Intelligence Unit drew up guidelines, describing methods for identifying politically exposed persons (“PEPs”).

On 2 July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled on case C-835/18 (SC Terracult SRL). The dispute was over the tax authority’s refusal to allow a taxable person to adjust invoices after the tax authority had completed a tax audit and assessed an additional tax liability, thus denying the taxable person’s right to a tax refund. The tax authority’s decision was final because the taxable person had accepted it. The taxable person sought to adjust invoices on the basis of new facts which were not known when the tax authority made the decision and which resulted in reverse-charge VAT being applied to the underlying transactions.

Although the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism and Proliferation Financing (“AML/CTPF”) Act has been in force for more than ten years, some of the entities governed by the Act still find it difficult to identify the status of a “politically exposed person.”

This article completes what we wrote last week.

This article picks up where we left off last week.

Although Latvia is a European leader in P2P crediting, the fintech industry has also suffered from the Covid-19 crisis. According to financial blogger Kristaps Mors, four Latvian online platforms have closed down or stopped paying money in recent months. He says if this tendency continues, Latvia might become famous as a fraud centre of this industry. We assume that these signals have reached the State Revenue Service and the National Data Office, who are carefully monitoring the business conducted in this industry to ensure that fintechs comply with statutory requirements.

This article finishes off what we posted last week.

What is it that differentiates a temporary residence permit from an EU Blue Card? While both documents allow a foreign national to spend a certain period in Latvia, there are essential differences that need to be considered when choosing either of them. This article explores five key differences between the temporary residence permit and the EU Blue Card.

In times of adverse and significant events, such as a war, crisis or pandemic, there is a certain group of people that will try to exploit the national emergency situation in their own interests. It is no surprise that this phenomenon has now surfaced in response to the global outbreak of COVID-19. At the very outset of the pandemic, cybersecurity companies and news agencies repeatedly warned us about an increase in phishing attacks, with people receiving virus reports from authorities such as the WHO enticing them to download malware on their devices.

We have already informed our MindLink.lv subscribers about tax measures aimed at helping employers, workers and traders cope with the economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Idleness benefit is one of the support measures for employers and workers. This article explores how to record idleness benefit in the books and how to prepare an employer’s statement for an idle worker.

To primarily provide employment to Latvian residents, employers wishing to hire third-country nationals are required by Latvian law to meet various criteria, including adequate funding for the foreign worker to be employed in Latvia. Carrying out these statutory obligations permits an employer to hire a foreign worker holding a visa or a work/residence permit. This article explores some of the changes to the minimum pay applicable from 1 April 2020.

Self-isolation and quarantine as well as closed borders have made life complicated for so many of us. One of the questions is how to ensure legitimacy for documents signed remotely. For example, it might be difficult to forward documents by post between countries and to obtain a notary attestation and an apostille on documents. This article explores some of the available options for electronic signing of documents remotely in Latvia and elsewhere.

Section 8 of the Work Protection Act is silent about assessing work environment risks when working remotely, yet the current rules provide that this assessment should be made either at the workplace or for the type of work.

Due to the emergency situation declared in Latvia for COVID-19 containment, companies as well as central and local government agencies have taken measures to protect their workers, customers and other persons against potential threats to their health in order to continue working to the extent possible in the emergency situation. Under the circumstances, a new type of information about individuals is additionally being gathered and processed, for example, whether they have any symptoms, whether the person has been in contact with anyone who might be infected, including any COVID-19 tests and their results, as well as other information relating to places someone has visited.

To fill the labour gap, employers in Latvia are increasingly hiring workers from third countries. An employment contract is the most common basis for employing third-country nationals. This article explores five factors to consider when it comes to entering into an employment contract with a third-country national.