Flash News offers the latest information on current tax, accounting, legal and other business issues.
With advanced technology and improved international cooperation, people are becoming less and less tied down to a particular residence. Many relocate from Latvia to live abroad indefinitely. Since this is a new experience for most people, this article summarises key tax aspects a Latvian tax resident should consider in the case of relocation.
With the financial year nearing its end, section 15.2 of the Taxes and Duties Act requires many companies to prepare, or to prepare and file with the State Revenue Service (SRS), their transfer pricing (TP) documentation. Since determining related-party status often confuses taxpayers and authorities, this article reminds you who is considered a related party for TP purposes and what transactions require the taxpayer to prepare TP documentation.
As company balance sheets become increasingly saturated with liabilities and future cash flows less certain, the scope for obtaining bank finance on balanced terms is limited. Yet companies need fresh capital to continue investing and to make their business more resilient to energy shocks and lack of raw materials, and to cope with rising costs, which often cannot be offset by an increased price of the end product.
Ever-changing legislation puts additional pressure on businesses and individuals. To make sure you haven’t missed any important changes and to spot potential risks early, the best solution is to keep up with the changes and know your way around the relevant resources.
In statutory cases, the taxpayer is liable to prepare transfer pricing (TP) documentation and file it with the State Revenue Service (SRS). An examination of TP documentation helps the SRS monitor the correctness of corporate income tax (CIT) payments because the difference between a controlled transaction’s value and market price must be included in the taxable base under the CIT Act. If the taxpayer defaults on the obligation to prepare and file TP documentation, then in addition to the opportunity to start an audit and assess the correctness of the CIT calculation, the SRS may start a data assesment in the field of tax revenue risks and charge a hefty fine on the company if an offence is found. This article explores what offences relating to TP documentation permit the taxpayer to be fined outside an audit and how the SRS should evaluate and justify the size of fine.
To adopt aid measures early and ensure business continuity, the government is proposing new rules on wage subsidy aid to help taxpayers stay in business in a Covid-19 crisis. This article explores the content of the proposals so taxpayers know what industries are eligible for this aid and how they can apply.
In our previous article, we looked at ESG cost categories and said it’s not always right to bear expenses according to the principle of ownership and split them evenly between all companies forming a group. This article continues to examine the reasons.
When it comes to personal data processing, political parties are no exception, being subject to the same requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that apply to any other data controller. It’s noteworthy the National Data Office has recently issued new guidelines on personal data processing in the run-up to the general election. Could this mean the regulator will be scrutinising the political parties for GDPR compliance? This article explores what measures a political party should take to ensure its data processing complies with GDPR.
The global entertainment & media (E&M) industry’s revenue strongly outpaced overall global economic growth last year. Following a pandemic-related 2.3% decline in 2020, E&M revenue rose a strong 10.4% in 2021, from US$2.12trn to 2.34trn. With the industry becoming more digital, more mobile and more youth-oriented, virtual reality (VR), gaming and digital advertising are the main growth drivers. These are findings from PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2022–2026, the 23rd annual analysis and forecast of E&M spending by consumers and advertisers across 52 countries and territories.
On 22 December 2021 the Supreme Court’s Administrative Division ruled on case A420209519, SKA-744/2021 dealing with the personal income tax (PIT) treatment of a non-resident individual’s sale of real estate (RE) in Latvia. The ruling reinforces the understanding of the PIT treatment for a non-resident selling RE to Latvian tax-resident individuals who are not traders.
Cross-border business is currently undergoing a huge transformation. Along with taking care of the environment, multinational groups are radically changing their strategy, setting sustainable development goals, and undertaking to considerably reduce their carbon footprint and to develop a socially responsible business according to the best governance practice. The inclusion of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in a business development strategy gives cross-border companies a competitive advantage. In an unprecedented transition to the Green Deal, multinational groups are investing significant amounts and seeing their cost base rise. This article explores which of the companies in a group should cover costs incurred in planning, adopting and implementing their ESG strategy and related measures, looked at from a transfer pricing perspective.
Russia’s military aggression has significantly affected some of the businesses importing metal products from Russia and Belarus, as well as industries such as metalworking, defence, construction, mechanical engineering, and information & communication technologies. To promote market stability, the Ministry of Economics intends to implement aid measures as an immediate solution in the form of financial instruments to ensure traders’ future business.
Although the single tax account has been up and running since 1 January 2021, taxpayers keep wondering about how payments are recognised in the systems run by the State Revenue Service (SRS) and how taxpayer liabilities are covered. There are issues in how payments are applied to cover mandatory national social insurance (NSI) contributions and other tax liabilities. Since NSI is a cornerstone of the social security system, the National Social Insurance Agency (NSIA) and the SRS have started addressing those NSI issues. This article explores what problems the two bodies are facing and how they plan to solve them.
On 2 August the Ministry of Finance published a proposal for amending the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Act to change the rate applicable to foreign nationals working remotely in Latvia. If approved, the proposal will come into force on 1 January 2023. There is no knowing how the proposal will move on, as it still needs approval from the Ministry of Justice, but we can examine its potential impact.
On 19 July 2022 the Regional Administrative Court ruled on a case in which a taxpayer sought compensation for a loss and non-pecuniary damages resulting from an unlawful audit decision issued by the State Revenue Service (SRS) and overturned by the court. This article explores what losses (expenses) the court considers reimbursable and what the court evaluates in determining whether particular expense items can be reimbursed.
Launched by the State Revenue Service (SRS) in 2018, the taxpayer rating system started out with five dimensions of analysis to determine a taxpayer’s individual assessment in the tax authority’s eyes. After hearing suggestions from the business community in February 2020, the rating system (dubbed “tax speedometer”) was expanded to include another two analysis dimensions with five new business assessment indicators. This article explores the system’s objectives, taxpayer groups, key analysis dimensions and assessments, as well as the taxpayer’s benefits from being rated.
Our Flash News edition of 12 July 2022 informed MindLink subscribers about a new aid programme based on rules recently adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers. In that article we looked at eligible entities, qualifying activities and excluded industries. This article explores the aid instrument and the programme’s status.
The first article of our NFT series presented an overview of NFTs and analysed the Spanish tax authority’s finding that NFT is a service supplied electronically between its creator and the customer. This article explores how to determine what national VAT should be charged on NFT supplies and where the place of supply of electronic services is.
The Supreme Court’s Administrative Division has reversed the Regional Administrative Court’s ruling, which had overturned a decision from the State Revenue Service (SRS) on an additional personal income tax (PIT) liability. This article explores the case in detail.
The Latvian Labour Code is amended on a regular basis and sometimes even more than once a year, but recent years have not seen so sweeping amendments as those coming into force on 1 August 2022. This article will help you navigate the new provisions of labour law.
Nowadays renting out real estate (RE) is a common line of business carried on by individuals. The growing popularity of www.booking.com and www.airbnb.com makes choosing the right tax scheme an important decision. Latvian law offers a number of ways to register a business and pay taxes. This article explores what options are available when it comes to registering a person’s RE letting and whether it is possible to change the form of registration.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have really taken off in recent years. While it might seem this technology has emerged very recently, Kevin MacCoy and Anil Dash created the first known NFT, Quantum, back in 2014. More interest in NFTs didn’t arise until six years later, when the NFT market value reached US$250 million. The market interest in NFTs grew in 2021, when US$41.3 billion was invested in the NFT market over a span of six months. Yet despite such an impressive growth in popularity, we often hear questions like what is NFT, where is it used, and how would it be taxed? This series of articles explores the idea of NFT and the VAT treatment of NFT transactions in the EU.
When external conditions are especially challenging, smooth internal processes and readily available information may prove to be a key aspect of improving your competitive edge. Today’s finance function is challenged by changes in the business environment and economy and by disruptive technology, so a CFO equipped with financial knowledge alone is no longer enough. In its annual CFO survey, PwC finds out what problems are facing companies in areas that CFOs keep on their radar as a top priority in order to grow their company and improve the performance of its finance function. This article summarises findings of the CFO survey conducted by PwC CEE and opportunities we see for supporting CFOs.
On 1 December 2021 the European Parliament published the approved directive on the preparation of a public country-by-country report (“PCbCR Directive”). It states that any multinational group with consolidated revenue exceeding EUR 750 million for each of the last two financial years has to publish certain information (including revenue, headcount, and taxes paid) on their operations in each EU member state and certain third countries. This information has to be posted on the group’s website by December 2026 relating to subjects governed by the Directive if the financial year ends on 31 December 2025.
Amendments to section 9 of the Corporate Income Tax Act came into force on 21 April 2022. The Act’s transition rules now have paragraphs 47 and 48, and there is a different CIT treatment of debts appearing on the balance sheet at 31 December 2017 and ones incurred after this date for which provisions were made before 2022 and later. This article offers an updated summary of the CIT treatment of bad debts in different situations.
The Cabinet of Ministers Rule governing a new aid programme for improving energy efficiency in manufacturers and exporters came into force on 18 June 2022. Businesses can apply for aid to cover their overheads, i.e. for a loan (or a parallel loan) of up to EUR 5 million from the Altum Development Finance Institution. Up to 30% of the loan principal can be cancelled as a capital allowance. The aid can be used on costs associated with improving energy efficiency or introducing renewable energy resources for personal consumption by businesses in non-residential buildings and warehouses. This article explores some aspects of the new aid programme described in the publicly available wording of the Cabinet Rule.
Effective from 4 February 2022, the Whistle Blowing Act introduces new requirements compared to the earlier enactment with the same title, and takes over the provisions of Directive EU 2019/1937. This article explores what a whistle-blowing system (WBS) really means in the light of the new Act and what options companies have for setting up such a system efficiently.
With environmentally friendly practices, such as waste sorting and recycling, becoming the order of the day, the natural resource tax (NRT) treatment is a hot topic too. As you know, packaging is one of the items subject to NRT. The obligation to pay tax or the right to take an exemption lies with the person who is the first to sell goods in packaging in Latvia, including foreign companies supplying their goods to Latvian companies. There are plans to amend the NRT Act on how foreign persons may take an exemption.
In March 2022, PwC conducted the “Global Workforce Hopes and Fears” survey of 52,195 individuals who are in work or active in the labour market. That was one of the largest ever surveys of the global workforce, covering a range of industries, demographic characteristics and working patterns in 44 countries and territories.