The question of when the sale of property shifts from being considered a private sale to being regarded as an economic activity has always been a pertinent issue. On the website of the State Revenue Service (“SRS”), there is an informative material titled “Economic Operators”, which outlines the conditions under which the SRS identifies a registrable economic activity (https://www.vid.gov.lv/lv/saimnieciskas-darbibas-veiceji). The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has also repeatedly considered disputes regarding what is regarded as economic activity. Among others, the CJEU examined a Latvian case concerning whether the supply of timber from private forest to eliminate storm damage constitutes economic activity (Judgment of 19 July 2012, Rēdlihs v. State Revenue Service (C 263/11). The criteria for the existence of economic activity were also addressed in a recent CJEU judgment in a Polish case (3 April 2025, E. T., C-213/24). Full details are available in the article.
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Ask questionDigital transformation in both the public and private sectors is rapidly advancing, with one of its central elements being the digitisation of document circulation. On 17 April 2025, the Ministry of Finance (“MoF”) submitted proposed amendments to the Value Added Tax (“VAT”) Law for public consultation, aiming to align it with the requirements set out in the Accounting Law regarding the issuance of structured electronic invoices, or e-invoices. These changes represent a significant step toward a fully digital and efficient accounting and tax administration system in Latvia.
In practice, the application of VAT to hire-purchase transactions (lease/finance lease) still leads to confusion, as a recent ruling by the Senate suggests (the ruling of 6 December 2024 in case A420225819, SKA-38/2024).
Conclusion of the article from the previous week.
All taxable persons are obliged to register for VAT purposes, unless they can be considered a small business, i.e., if the total value of taxable transactions carried out domestically and also certain non-taxable transactions does not exceed EUR 50,000 per calendar year (+EUR 5,000 per year).
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