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Rule No. 969 on business trip expenses to be amended (1/38/19)

The Finance Ministry’s proposals for amending the Cabinet of Ministers’ Rule No. 969 were announced at a meeting of state secretaries on 18 July 2019. This article explores some of the proposals to be debated soon.

 

The rationale behind the amendments
 
An annotation to the proposals explains the need to consider how inflation rates and the cost of goods and services have changed since Rule No. 969 was issued in 2002, as well as considering percentage increases in daily allowances, and the need to revise the allowances for business trips and on-the-job travel not only within Latvia but also abroad.
 
Proposed amendments across Latvia
 
1) A business trip order
 
The proposals provide for replacing the traditional hard copy order with an electronic document, assuming that a signatory authorised by the entity’s CEO has duly approved the document with their electronic signature.
 
2) Public transport fares
 
Increased public transport fares (especially on assignments from other Latvian municipalities to Riga) suggest that the reimbursement equal to 30% of daily allowance does not cover the actual public transport fares, leading to a proposed increase in this reimbursement to 50%.
 
3) Daily allowance
 
It is proposed to increase the current Latvian daily allowance of 6 euros. The Finance Ministry suggests revising it up to 16 euros.
 
4) Hotel accommodation reimbursement in Riga and elsewhere
 
It is also proposed to revise the hotel reimbursement rates according to supporting documents presented to the employer. The current staff hotel reimbursement is capped at 57 euros per night in Riga and 43 euros elsewhere, to be raised to 100 and 60 euros respectively.
 
Daily allowances on foreign business trips
 
The Finance Ministry also suggests revising the daily allowances and hotel rates for persons going on foreign business trips to reflect the changes to fees charged by foreign service providers. And Schedule 1 to Rule No. 969 now includes 13 more countries (marked red).
 
The table gives a brief overview of the proposed rate increases:
 

No.

Country or territory

Daily allowance (compensation for extra cost) in euros

Hotel rate

Current amount

Proposed amendment

Currency

Current amount

Proposed amendment

1

2

3.1

3.2

4

5.1

5.2

1

Afghanistan

40

US dollar

230

2

Albania

 

33

US dollar

 

150

3

Algeria

 

40

US dollar

 

150

4

US (New York)

40

60

US dollar

300

5

US (excluding New York)

40

60

US dollar

250

6

US (Virginia)

29

40

US dollar

120

150

7

Andorra

40

50

euro

150

8

United Arab Emirates

 

50

euro

 

200

9

Australia

46

50

Australian dollar

300

10

Austria

46

50

euro

150

200

11

Azerbaijan

29

40

euro

150

12

Bahrain

 

50

euro

 

200

13

Belarus

29

30

US dollar

140

14

Belgium

40

60

euro

200

250

15

Bosnia and Herzegovina

29

35

euro

100

120

16

Brazil

 

50

euro

 

220

17

Bulgaria

29

35

euro

130

150

18

Czech Republic

35

40

euro

150

170

19

Denmark

46

60

Danish krone

1,300

1,650

20

South Korea

29

52

US dollar

150

250

21

Egypt

29

30

US dollar

230

22

France

57

60

euro

200

250

23

Gibraltar

35

Pound sterling

60

24

In Greenland

46

euro

170

25

Greece

46

55

euro

170

200

26

Georgia

23

30

US dollar

160

27

Guatemala

29

35

US dollar

120

28

Croatia

29

40

euro

130

29

Estonia

29

40

euro

100

120

30

India

40

US dollar

370

31

Iraq

29

40

US dollar

120

150

32

Iran

29

35

US dollar

120

150

33

Iceland

57

65

euro

220

250

34

Italy

46

60

euro

220

300

35

Israel

40

60

US dollar

250

270

36

Ireland

52

60

euro

190

260

37

Japan

52

70

US dollar

280

300

38

New Zealand

74

Australian dollar

250

280

39

Yemen

 

50

euro

 

200

40

Canada

40

50

Canadian dollar

180

270

41

Qatar

 

50

euro

 

200

42

Kazakhstan

29

30

euro

160

43

Kenya

37

40

US dollar

200

44

Cyprus

29

46

euro

120

170

45

Kyrgyzstan

29

30

euro

160

46

Kosovo

35

euro

120

47

Russia (Moscow and St Petersburg)

46

euro

270

48

Russia (excluding Moscow and St Petersburg)

29

35

euro

190

49

Kuwait

35

50

euro

150

200

50

China (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Guangzhou)

32

45

euro

190

200

51

China (Hong Kong, Macao)

40

55

euro

200

250

52

China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Guangzhou)

29

35

euro

180

53

Liberia

29

50

US dollar

120

54

Great Britain

63

65

Pound sterling

280

330

55

Lithuania

29

30

euro

100

120

56

Liechtenstein

52

60

Swiss franc

180

280

57

Luxembourg

40

60

euro

200

280

58

Malta

29

45

euro

100

170

59

Morocco

29

40

US dollar

230

60

Montenegro

35

40

euro

120

61

Moldova

29

30

euro

120

62

Monaco

40

50

euro

150

170

63

Mongolia

 

35

euro

 

170

64

Netherlands

46

60

euro

150

200

65

Norway

52

65

Norwegian krone

1,400

2,000

66

Oman

 

50

euro

 

200

67

Poland

29

35

euro

130

150

68

Portugal

40

50

euro

150

200

69

Romania

35

euro

150

70

San Marino

 

40

euro

 

150

71

Saudi Arabia

 

50

euro

 

200

72

Serbia

35

40

euro

120

160

73

Singapore

35

50

US dollar

150

200

74

Slovakia

29

35

euro

130

160

75

Slovenia

29

35

euro

130

76

Finland

46

55

euro

180

220

77

Spain

40

50

euro

160

170

78

Switzerland

52

60

Swiss franc

280

320

79

Tajikistan

29

40

euro

160

80

Tunisia

29

30

US dollar

230

81

Turkey

35

euro

160

82

Turkmenistan

 

40

euro

 

180

83

Ukraine

35

euro

200

84

Hungary

29

35

euro

130

160

85

Uzbekistan

29

40

euro

230

160

86

Germany (Hamburg and Munich)

46

50

euro

170

220

87

Germany (excluding Hamburg and Munich)

46

50

euro

170

180

88

Vietnam

 

35

euro

 

170

89

Northern Macedonia

35

euro

120

140

90

Sweden

40

50

euro

220

260

91

Other countries

29

30

US dollar

150

 

 

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