All Flash News

Flash News offers the latest information on current tax, accounting, legal and other business issues.

Accounting AML Artificial Intelligence (AI) Automation Brexit Business Car tax Case law CIT Covid-19 Customs Diversity & Inclusion E-invoicing Employees ESG Excise Free access Legal Microbusiness NRT PIT Real estate Social insurance Stamp State Aid Tax Technology Transfer pricing Ukraine VAT WHT
18.03.2020

COVID-19 implications: tax solutions 1/13/20
Free access Tax Covid-19 VAT

To deal with the consequences of COVID-19, the Latvian government has decided to add tax solutions to its package of social and business measures.
17.03.2020

Doing business amid COVID-19 outbreak 1/12/20
Accounting Free access Business Covid-19

Governments and health supervisory agencies around the world have launched an all-out fight against COVID-19, but more needs to be done. Several countries have quarantined millions of people, and if the situation deteriorates, more countries might follow suit. COVID-19 has become a serious risk for the Latvian economy as well as globally.
12.03.2020

Estonia: tax developments (3/11/20)
Tax CIT Customs
In 2019, the Estonian Ministry of Finance drafted proposals for amending the Income Tax Act to regulate the taxation of income earned by foreign temporary workers (non-residents) from employment in Estonia. The amendments were expected to take effect from 1 January 2020 but they did not.
12.03.2020

Taxation of permanent establishments: SRS guidance (2/11/20)
Tax CIT
To fill the gap in Latvian legislation when it comes to taxing a non-resident company’s permanent establishment (“PE”) in Latvia, the State Revenue Service (“SRS”) published guidance in August 2019 explaining their approach to PE taxation with examples, which may at first seem quite aggressive, especially considering that nearly all of the PE’s outgoing payments attract corporate income tax (“CIT”). This article explores the SRS approach.
12.03.2020

Personal Income Tax Act to be amended (1/11/20)
Tax PIT
Parliament has been debating proposals for amending the Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) Act to determine a personal allowance applicable to the foreign-source old-age pension income of expatriates returning to Latvia. This article explores the proposed changes.
06.03.2020

Documentation for VAT zero rating (3/10/20)
Tax VAT
On 10 December 2019, we informed our MindLink.lv subscribers that effective from 2020, Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1912 of 4 December 2018 prescribes a set of documents that must be available when it comes to zero-rating a supply of goods to a taxable person established in another member state. This article answers certain questions about how to apply the Regulation in practice.
06.03.2020

VAT treatment of e-commerce to be simplified (2/10/20)
Tax VAT
Given the European Commission’s long-term commitment to building a final VAT system that would be simpler and more secure against fraud, businesses engaged in cross-border trade will find it easier to meet their VAT obligations from 1 January 2021 thanks to the One Stop Shop, which eases the VAT burden and removes obstacles to cross-border trade. This article explores some of the expected changes to the VAT treatment of e-commerce from 2021.
06.03.2020

Five factors to consider in employing third country nationals (1/10/20)
Legal Tax
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.
28.02.2020

Future of digital tax: OECD Pillar Two (3/9/20)
Tax CIT Transfer pricing

Wrapping up our previous article “Unified approach to addressing tax challenges in digital economy,” this article explores the OECD’s proposals for international taxation rules within Pillar Two.
28.02.2020

Proposal to abolish property tax on primary residence (2/9/20)
Tax
On 17 February a meeting of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Tax Policy debated changes to the procedure for calculating real estate tax (RET). The Ministry of Justice has submitted proposals for abolishing RET on a person’s primary residence worth up to EUR 100,000 and for substantially reducing the level of RET on homes with a cadastral value (CV) higher than that. There are plans to introduce a special value which, once a new CV base is adopted, would provide a mechanism for reasonable RET charges and strengthen everyone’s right to a privately owned home.
28.02.2020

Wizard for calculating capital gains: new feature on EDS (1/9/20)
Tax PIT
The State Revenue Service (SRS) has recently launched a wizard for calculating capital gains on the Electronic Declaration System (EDS). This article explores cases in which the wizard can be used and the advantages of using it.
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.
21.02.2020

Future of digital tax: OECD’s Pillar One (2/8/20)
Tax Transfer pricing

Picking up where we left off in last week’s article “Unified approach to addressing tax challenges in digital economy,” this article explores recent proposals for international taxation rules within Pillar One of the OECD’s Work Programme.
21.02.2020

Amendments to Corporate Income Tax Act effective from 12 February (1/8/20)
Tax CIT
We have published a number of articles since last summer about proposals for amending the CIT Act. This article summarises amendments that were adopted by Parliament in their third reading on 30 January and came into force on 12 February 2020 to update the existing rules and introduce some new ones.
14.02.2020

Corporate tax relief for donors from 2020 (3/7/20)
Tax CIT
Recent amendments to the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Act are expected to increase the flow of donations this year. This article explores amendments relating to CIT relief for donors applicable from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022.
14.02.2020

Unified approach to addressing tax challenges in digital economy (2/7/20)
Tax Transfer pricing
Following up on the topic of digitalisation discussed in our Flash News article “Taxing permanent establishments in digital economy” on 23 August 2018, we have prepared a series of articles summarising the key points of Pillar One and Pillar Two, documents recently issued by the OECD.
14.02.2020

Incoterms 2020: updated terms for supplies of goods (1/7/20)
Tax VAT
The International Commercial Terms (Incoterms) provide for the apportionment of responsibility, obligations and costs between the buyer and the seller in international contracts for supplies of goods. On 10 September 2019 the International Chamber of Commerce(ICC) published the latest version, Incoterms 2020, which came into force on 1 January 2020. This version presents revised Incoterms 2010 to accurately reflect today’s commercial practices. This article explores what we see as key changes to the Incoterms.
07.02.2020

Corporate Income Tax Act amended (3/6/20)
Tax CIT
The long-awaited amendments to the CIT Act have been finally adopted. This article explores amendments that increase the number of items to be included in the tax base and expands the range of taxpayers.
07.02.2020

Time to file annual income tax return (2/6/20)
Tax PIT
The tax filing season is approaching swiftly as we have less than one month to go until March. On 14 January 2020, we informed our MindLink.lv subscribers about the proposed amendments relating to the statutory form of the personal income tax (PIT) return and instructions for completing it. This article explores the filing obligation as well as the statutory filing and payment deadlines.
04.02.2020

Using digital platforms in accounting 1//6/20
Accounting Free access Tax Technology

 

Technology plays a huge role in many industries and particularly affects bookkeeping and financial accounting. Specialist digital skills and experience of working with state-of-the-art technological solutions as well as the skill of creating and developing digital tools are key to successful financial accounting and management in your company.
31.01.2020

Corporate tax treatment of profits from property sales (3/5/20)
Tax CIT
If we look at the Latvian corporate income tax (CIT) treatment of real estate (RE) sales, foreign companies are still governed by different rules when selling shares in a Latvian company whose assets are mostly RE. This article explores key differences in CIT treatment depending on whether the seller is a Latvian or a foreign company and whether they sell RE or shares in an RE company, as well as outlining some proposed changes that will affect Latvian companies.
31.01.2020

Amendments to Taxes and Duties Act in force (2/5/20)
Tax PIT
Adopted by Parliament in their third reading in late 2019, amendments to the Taxes and Duties Act (“TADA”) came into force on 13 January 2020. They define administrative offences in the area of taxation and the penalties they attract. This article explores key changes affecting taxpayers.
31.01.2020

Adjusting corporate tax return for last reporting month (1/5/20)
Accounting Tax CIT
Last week saw most of the companies whose financial year runs from January to December in a hurry to prepare and file their tax return for the last reporting month. The final return must include some tax-base elements that could be ignored when preparing monthly returns. This article will help you figure out whether any adjustment needs to be made to your tax return being submitted with your annual report.
24.01.2020

Communication with tax authority only electronically as from 2021 (3/4/20)
Accounting Business Tax
On 9 January 2020, Parliament debated proposals for amending the Taxes and Duties Act in their first reading. The proposals include important changes relating to how applications and tax returns should be filed with the State Revenue Service (SRS).
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.
17.01.2020

Dividends: income tax treatment and reporting (2/3/20)
Tax PIT
We have informed our MindLink.lv subscribers that the period of transition prescribed by paragraph 130 of the transitional provisions of the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Act for charging a 10% PIT on dividends received in 2018 and 2019 out of profits made before 2018 expired on 1 January 2020. This article explores the PIT treatment and reporting of dividends after 2019.
17.01.2020

Income tax return form and completion procedures to be amended (1/3/20)
Tax PIT
Proposals for amending the Cabinet of Ministers’ Rule No. 662 on personal income tax (PIT) returns and completion procedures were announced at the meeting of state secretaries on 5 December 2019. The proposals have been put together to align the income tax return form with recent amendments to the PIT Act and to make it easier to complete for traders.
16.01.2020

test
Tax
test
Read more
Page
from 40