Legal

21.02.2020

GPS car tracking: restrictions to consider (3/8/20)
Legal Tax
The global positioning system (GPS) is becoming popular with employers wishing to monitor vehicles or equipment used by their workers. This article explores how a worker’s privacy may be restricted by the employer using GPS tracking in their equipment and how the latest European case law treats this.
24.01.2020

Does lending to subsidiary automatically make company subject to AML law? (2/4/20)
Legal Business Tax AML

We have lately heard that it is advisable to register your company as a person subject to the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist and Proliferation Financing (AML/CTPF) Act rather than receiving a letter from the State Revenue Service (SRS) warning that they are about to examine your system of internal controls, which does not exist. This article explores how much of this talk is true.
21.01.2020

Easier terms for employing third country nationals in Latvia 1/4/20
Free access Legal Tax

The Cabinet of Ministers’ Rule No. 55 of 28 January 2014 on employing foreign nationals has been amended with effect from 28 December 2019. The amendments make it easier for an employer to employ third-country nationals in Latvia. This article explores the amendments and the easy terms.
17.01.2020

Monitoring use of email and Internet and recording conversations (3/3/20)
Legal Tax Employees
The use of information technology at work is becoming increasingly common. For example, there are profilers that, for the purpose of setting the amount of a performance bonus, monitor how much time staff spend on the computer and particular applications, or assess Internet addresses they visit during working hours. Likewise, employers often monitor the use of email and the Internet or record staff conversations to monitor their daily routine and productivity. This article explores cases where this is permitted and where such monitoring or its extent infringes on staff privacy.
06.12.2019

Garden leave: remedy for protecting employer’s business (2/49/19)
Legal Tax
When it comes to giving notice to terminate an employment contract, the employer wants to not only carry out their statutory obligations but also protect their business interests. Latvian law is silent about the employer’s right to prevent the employee from coming to work during the notice period. Anglo-Saxon law has dealt with this situation since late last century using the legal concept of garden leave.
29.11.2019

Invalidation of loan: CJEU case law (3/48/19)
Legal Tax
This article explores a recent CJEU ruling on consumer disputes over financial services.
15.11.2019

Transaction recognised as transfer of business, not supply of goods (2/46/19)
Legal Tax VAT
Hiding the true substance of one transaction by substituting another to obtain a tax advantage is not an unusual case heard by the courts. This time the court ruled in favour of the State Revenue Service (SRS) after finding that a taxable person had wrongly deducted input VAT according to a supplier’s pro forma invoices for the purchase of movables, because the real transactions are recognised as the transfer of a business as a going concern, which is outside the scope of VAT.
02.11.2019

Economic substance (3/44/19)
Legal Tax CIT
To fight fraud and tax avoidance at national and international level, EU authorities are drawing up appropriate rules and explaining relevant concepts. Recent years have seen member states passing anti-avoidance rules into their national legislation and double tax treaties according to OECD guidelines. These circumstances emphasise the need to assess the commercial content and business purpose of transactions carried out by multinational enterprises. Economic substance is a key criterion we should assess to determine whether a company’s profit is taxed where it is really earned and whether there is any tax avoidance. This article explores the concept of economic substance.
11.10.2019

Bullying in workplace: statute and case law (3/41/19)
Legal Tax Employees
Last week we wrote about emotional or psychological bullying against a worker. This article explores the legislation and recent case law dealing with emotional bullying.
08.10.2019

Monitoring compliance with AML/CTPF Act 1/41/19
Free access Legal Tax AML

The State Revenue Service (SRS) is in the process of reviewing external accounting service providers and tax consultancies for compliance with the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism and Proliferation Financing (AML/CTPF) Act.
04.10.2019

Emotional bullying in workplace (3/40/19)
Legal Tax Employees
A favourable working environment is among the factors that drive staff productivity, but a worker may also face a consistently negative attitude to them in the workplace. As a result, the person may find it intolerable to be there. This article explores the forms and characteristics of emotional bullying and ways of fighting it.
26.09.2019

Workplace video surveillance (2) (3/39/19)
Legal Tax Employees
This article completes what we wrote last week.
20.09.2019

Intragroup mobility of third country nationals: easier, faster, and lawful (3/38/19)
Legal Tax Employees
Nationals of a third-country such as Belarus holding a Latvian work permit are not allowed to work in other EU member states. This article explores how third-country nationals can lawfully move within multinational enterprises across the EU.
20.09.2019

Workplace video surveillance (2/38/19)
Legal Tax Employees
The National Data Office has stated that installing video surveillance devices in the workplace with audio recording is unlawful unless the law expressly permits their use. This article explores video surveillance in the light of the General Data Protection Regulation.
13.09.2019

Adverse consequences of widening State Revenue Service’s powers (3/37/19)
Legal Tax
At various stages of their control measures, the State Revenue Service (SRS) has the power to apply means of securing enforcement of their potential decisions. The SRS’s powers were expanded on this matter a year ago, and this expansion is affecting any entities and individuals that are being scrutinised by the SRS. However, those newly acquired powers appear to be exercised in a formal manner improperly restricting taxpayers’ rights.
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09.05.2025

Closure of PricewaterhouseCoopers tax and business portal MindLink.lv

We would like to inform you that on July 1, 2025, we will cease operations of the portal.   

The last MindLink.lv Flash News will be published on June 17, 2025. The archive of published content will be available until the portal is completely closed.   

Subscribers will be contacted individually. 

Thank you for choosing MindLink.lv as your trusted e-consultant! 

21.06.2023

What should you think about if you want to move to Latvia?

Tax resident status prescribes a personal income tax (PIT) liability on your worldwide income in your tax residence country. You should carefully assess your tax resident status to avoid potential double taxation, if the tax authorities of two countries treat you as their tax resident.
17.03.2023

Nasdaq welcomes PwC as a certified adviser on First North

“By working closely with multiple executives and shareholders of both private and State-owned corporates, we have observed an increasing interest about the capital markets. Business leaders have become more ambitious and better aware of the myriad of benefits from attracting capital via the exchange. At PwC, we are confident that First North Certified Adviser status will allow us to provide a more diversified advice for our clients in the Baltic region and help navigate them in the journey of an intensified capital market activity,” highlights Raimonds Dauksts, Head of Advisory at PwC Latvia.

First North is a growth market designed for ambitious small and medium-sized companies in the Baltics. Being a Certified Adviser permits PwC to guide growth companies in Baltics through the Firth North application process and ensure they meet all the market’s requirements on a continuous basis.
See all PwC publications