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Latvia, officially Republic
of Latvia is one of the three Baltic states in Northern Europe in the
Baltic region. It is bordered to the north by the Baltic state Estonia,
to the south by the Baltic state Lithuania, and to the east both by
Belarus and the Russian Federation. Across the Baltic Sea to the west
lies Sweden.
The
Latvian government and local authorities have worked diligently to
streamline procedures for doing business in Latvia, for instance,
companies can be
established just in one day. As a member of the EU, Latvia operates
under Europe-wide legislation. To further stimulate investments, Latvian
Government is implementing many state support programs via EU Structural
funds for private business development.
The most popular
business entity is the limited liability company (SIA
or LLC). Corporate tax
rate is fixed at 15%, one of the lowest in the EU.
A Latvian company
is well positioned to be an effective EU intermediary for trade between
Western and Eastern, “Russian- speaking” countries. Latvia is a
multi-lingual society where Latvian, Russian and English languages are
commonly spoken and professionals are adept at working with both Western
and Eastern business cultures.
Latvia facts:
Capital: Riga
Official language:
Latvian
Population: 2.3
million
Political system:
Parliamentary democracy
EU Membership: since
2004
Official currency:
Latvian
lats (LVL)
Information
about
taxes in Republic of Latvia
Tax weight
Total tax weight in Latvia which forms from all the taxes
including Social insurance tax is 30,5% from GDP. It is one the lowest
index via 27 EU countries. Average tax weight is 39,8% from GDP. The
highest tax weight are in Denmark - 48,7%, Sweden - 48,3%, Belgium -
44%, France and Italy - 43,3% from GDP.
Value added tax (VAT)
Most of goods and services are taxed with
21% but there are exceptions and some specific goods and services are
taxed with 10% VAT.
Personal income tax
Personal income tax is 23% from private
incomes.
Corporate income tax
Corporate income tax to companies is 15%.
Losses
Losses of previous periods can be carried
forward for five years.
Tax rates in European Union
Here you can see comparison
of main taxes in European Union
|
Country |
Income
tax |
VAT |
| Corporate |
Individual |
|
Austria |
25% |
21-50% |
20% |
|
Belgium |
33,99% |
25-50% |
21% |
|
Denmark |
25% |
38-59% |
25% |
|
Estonia |
21% |
20% |
18% |
|
Finland |
26% |
7-30,5% |
22% |
|
France |
33,33% |
5,5-40% |
19,6% |
|
Germany |
30-33% (effective) |
15-45% |
19% |
|
Hungary |
16% |
18% and 36% |
20% |
|
Italy |
31,4% |
23-43% |
20% |
|
Latvia |
15% |
23% |
21% |
|
Lithuania |
20% |
15% / 20% |
19% |
|
Norway |
28% |
28-49% |
25% |
|
Poland |
19% |
18% / 32% |
22% |
|
Portugal |
25% |
0-42% |
20% |
|
Spain |
30% |
24-43% |
16% |
|
UK |
28% |
0-40% |
15% |
If you
need legal or accounting services or consultations, please feel free to
contact us:
Tel.
(371) 29
112 333 (EN, LV, RU)
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