Flash News Archive

5 January 2010 Flash News' theme continued. Read further »

In November 2009 the International Accounting Standards Board issued IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, which is not yet endorsed in the EU. This standard will eventually replace existing IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement. Replacement is planned in three phases. Phase I, dealing with the classification and measurement of financial assets, will be completed by adding the classification and measurement of financial liabilities to IFRS 9. Phase II will include impairment requirements, and Phase III will cover hedging. As each phase is completed, the relevant portions of IAS 39 will be deleted. There are plans to complete the project by the end of 2010. Read further »

This article explores the new regulation the Cabinet of Ministers has adopted to tax benefits from private use of business vehicles. The final version contains certain changes compared to the draft. In this article we have also included our answers to the comments our subscribers have posted regarding the Flash News item in which we wrote about the draft regulation. Read further »

The Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a regulation effective from 1 January this year to determine for personal income tax purposes the date of a capital gain if a contract for the disposal of capital assets, receipt of money, transfer of title and any additional conditions do not fall in the same tax period. This article takes a closer look at this situation. Read further »

From 1 July 2009, when amendments to the Information Society Services Act (‘ISSA’) came into force, sending commercial messages (‘CMs’) to legal entities has become much easier because the recipient’s prior consent is no longer required. Yet the old arrangement stands for individuals. The ISSA and Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (the directive has been incorporated in the ISSA) contain general rules for sending CMs but they do not directly relate to personal data protection issues. Yet it should not be forgotten that sending CMs is closely linked to personal data protection, so these rules should be observed. This article takes a look at the main rules to be observed in sending CMs. Read further »

The Finance Ministry has drafted a set of rules for taxing benefits from private use of company vehicles. These rules do not apply to emergency vehicles, light taxis and luxury vehicles defined by the Corporate Income Tax Act. Read further »

The Latvian VAT Act as amended from 1 January 2010 lays down a new VAT treatment of cross-border services: in future the main rule for determining the place of supply will be the customer’s place of business. This article explores the case of a customer having more than one place of business. Read further »

The European Commission has requested eight EU member states to amend their national law regarding the implementation of VAT grouping provisions. This article explores what discrepancies are to be eliminated and whether Latvia may be in for a similar warning. Read further »

This article wraps up the comments we made last week. Read further »

This article summarises amendments that affect national social insurance (NSI) and employee taxable income calculations in 2010. Read further »