Flash News Archive

On 30 March this year the Finance Ministry set up a working group to draft proposals for the use of supporting documents in an electronic environment. Besides officials from the Finance Ministry, the State Revenue Service and other government agencies, the working group has representatives from various associations and industries, including PwC. The primary task of the working group is to revise outdated clauses of the Accounting Act and bring them into line with the legislation on electronic documents. We also find it necessary to align the VAT Act, the Accounting Act and the Electronic Documents Act as far as invoices and signatures are concerned. Read further »

Happy is the internal auditor who, being asked, ‘Have you ever broken the code of ethics?’ can answer unequivocally, ‘No, never; I have always followed it on all audits, and I have never even found myself having to consider the idea.’ Actually there are any number of internal auditors out there facing this issue: integrity and objectivity – always and at any price? Read further »

Amendments to the Commercial Code adopted by Parliament in their third reading came into force on 1 May this year, completing a huge amount of work aimed at making life easier for businesses as far as possible. While some of the amendments suggest that Parliament has given with one hand and taken away with the other, Latvian companies might really find it easier to operate. This article takes a look at what we perceive as key proposals, whether adopted or rejected. Read further »

The Cabinet of Ministers is proposing essential amendments to Regulation No. 219 of 28 May 2002 relating to the reimbursement of expenses incurred on business trips and job-related travel, expected to come into force on 1 January 2011. Read further »

We wrote about amendments to the Public Procurement Act in our Flash News edition of 4 August 2009. We mentioned that the President of State had sent back to Parliament for review an amendment that required payment of security when filing a complaint with the Procurement Oversight Board (POB). Parliament voted to keep the requirement because it would make the procurement process more efficient, but the President appealed to the Constitutional Court. Read further »

On 15 April the Latvian parliament passed amendments to the Commercial Code, effective from 1 May 2010. Read further »

Affected by the crisis, the Latvian banking sector as a whole is no longer overly generous in lending, meaning that intragroup loans and borrowings have an increasingly important role to play in Latvian companies. Section 12 of the Corporate Income Tax Act states that, among other things, financing deals between related companies must be arm’s length. This article explores some of the aspects to consider when dealing with the finance company in your group. Read further »

New amendments to the VAT Act were passed by Parliament on 25 March and published on 14 April to make the reduced rate of VAT applicable to accommodation services rendered at tourist facilities. Read further »

Latvian Cabinet Rule No. 570 of 27 June 2009 regarding the single EU trader registration and identification number applied from 1 July 2009. This rule implemented Commission Regulation (EC) No. 312/2009 of 16 April 2009 amending Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code. Both the regulation and the rule primarily aimed to facilitate the registration of persons that carry out customs procedures by granting them a single registration number recognised across the EU. The above rule has been replaced with Rule No. 333 by the same name effective from 6 April 2010, which makes it easy to apply for a European operator registration and identification (‘EORI’) number. This article takes a look at what has changed. Read further »

The place of supply of services has a new definition for VAT purposes from 1 January 2010, customer trading status being a key criterion. This article takes a look at how suppliers can check up on their customers. Read further »