VAT registration in Latvia

If you are doing business in Latvia, you should evaluate the possible requirements for Latvian VAT number registration in Latvia. Also if you carry out your business in the EU, where there is a requirement to register the VAT number in one of the EU countries you can choose the VAT number in Latvia, as well. The regulations for VAT in Latvia are basically determined by the EU VAT Directive which is adopted in Latvia, as well.

VAT registration in Latvia

General requirements for the VAT registration in Latvia with the State Revenue Service

In general, the following persons have to be registered with the State Revenue Service Value Added Tax Taxable Persons Register (Article 56):

  1. individuals (natural persons)
  2. legal entities
  3. partnerships
  4. an authorised individual (natural person) of a group of persons, if the group of persons is operating on the basis of an agreement for the performance of joint economic activity
  5. a VAT group, indicating the principal undertaking of the VAT group which undertakes the commitments to submit a tax return on behalf of the VAT group and perform other obligations of a registered taxable person
  6. a fiscal representative

A taxable person must register as a VAT payer prior to the transaction(Article 55), provided that it:

  1. carries out taxable transactions
  2. receives the services inland the place of supply of which is determined in accordance with Article 19 (1) of the VAT Act
  3. supplies the services, the place of supply of which in accordance with Article 19 (1) of the VAT Act is another Member State and in relation to which the recipient of services is responsible for payment of taxes.

A taxable person has the right to register with the State Revenue Service Value Added Tax Taxable payers register for a definite period of time, which he indicates for the carrying out of taxable transactions in the submission for registration according to Article 66 (1) of the VAT Act.

Does your company need a Latvian VAT number?

Latvian VAT is a part of the EU VAT system, so the VAT registration rules in Latvia are similar as those in other EU countries. In Latvia, you are likely to register your VAT number if you are doing VAT-taxable business activities in Latvia.

For foreign entities VAT registration in Latvia is highly expected in the situations below:

  • If it is purchasing, producing and selling the goods in Latvia
  • If it is importing goods in Latvia
  • In case of distance selling, e.g. the foreign entity sells the goods to consumers in Latvia using the internet or catalogues
  • The foreign company holds the stock in warehouses or on consignment stock in Latvia
  • Providing training/exhibition events with paid tickets.
  • Supply, installation and maintenance of equipment in some situations.
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The registration threshold for foreign companies is zero, except for distance selling where it is 10 000 euros.

More detailed VAT registration in Latvia requirements for EU taxpayers and third countries are described below.

Specific cases for the EU companies

The EU VAT payer carries out VAT registration in Latvia if it supplies goods to a person who is not a taxable person or is not a registered taxable person and assembles or installs those goods domestically. In this case, the EU taxpayer must register a VAT number before the transaction takes place, and register in the value-added tax register of the State Revenue Service irrespective of the value of the goods assembled or installed.

In the case of distance sales of goods, the EU VAT payer must register in the VAT register of the State Revenue Service:

  • within 30 days from the day when the total value of supplies of goods in the preceding or current calendar year has reached or exceeded EUR 10 000;
  • before the transaction is effected, if the goods supplied are subject to excise duty (alcohol, gasoline, tobacco etc.), irrespective of the value of the excise goods supplied.

In the case of distance sales of goods, the EU VAT payer has the right to register in the register of VAT  payers of the State Revenue Service before reaching the above registration threshold.

If the EU VAT payer has a fixed establishment in Latvia, and this fixed establishment participates in the sale of the goods of the foreign company’s goods, then this fixed establishment should have undergone VAT registration in Latvia before starting to carry out the sales activities. It should be noted that “fixed establishment” means sufficient business representation in Latvia by means of labour and technical resources.

Who should be indicated in the VAT register?

If the EU VAT payer or the third country VAT payer carries out at least one taxable transaction in Latvia, one of the following persons has to be registered with the VAT Register:

  1. a taxable person of another EU member state;
  2. the authorised person inland

What documents are necessary for VAT registration in Latvia?

The following documents are required for the VAT number registration:

  • The foreign company’s registration certificate (copy)
  • an extract from the respective Commercial Register listing the persons authorized to represent the company
  • the foreign company’s VAT (or similar tax) registration certificate (copy)
  • a power of attorney (if you authorize someone to do the registration for you). A power of attorney should be signed by a person authorized to act on behalf of the foreign company and should be notarized (or signed with electronic signature).

Also, the following information is required (as it usually does not show up in the above documents):

The names, positions, personal identification codes or dates of birth, contact addresses and contact telephone numbers of the persons authorized to act on behalf of the foreign company (i.e., board members or other persons with signature rights).

  • information on the current bank accounts in the Latvian and foreign banks, which are used for the payments for the transactions to be carried out under Latvian VAT registration number (name of the credit institution, BIC / SWIFT code, account number, currency)
  • The share capital of the foreign company (amount, shareholders)
  • contact persons in Latvia (name, surname, contact address and contact telephone number).

If you require VAT registration in Latvia, please call +371 29274911 or e-mail info@breicis.com.