Day of submission of Annual Report is coming (Latvia)

Even then accountants have experience and expertise, they are facing changes, emerging situations every year and learn something new.
According to Annual Report and Annual Consolidated Report Law, all commercial companies must submit an annual report approved by the shareholders not later than one month after the approval of the annual report and not later than 4 months after the end of the reporting year to the State Revenue Service.
An exception is for:

• medium and large companies that meet Annual Report and Annual Consolidated Report Law’s criteria;
• the parent company of the group preparing the consolidated Annual Report;
• companies that should submit the Annual Report and the consolidated Annual Report (if it is being prepared) within 7 months after the end of the reporting year to the State Revenue Service.

On February 13, the Cabinet of Ministers approved amendments in Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 755 "Regulations on the Application of the Law on Annual Accounts and Consolidated Annual Report" that are made to partially solve the problem of the exclusion of deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities from enterprises balance sheet, in a result, the size of own capital of specific company is changing.
From 16th of February, 2018 Act has amendments because, from 1st of January, 2018 goes to action the Law of Corporate Income Tax. It says about a different calculation model of corporate income tax.




Preparing a correct Annual Report is unthinkable without an inventory of all accounts. If accounts are kept and known balances, the preparation of the annual accounts is merely a technical task. Amendments are not applicable for all companies who prepare Annual Reports according to International Accounting Standards.
Sometimes it seems too much for one person and companies use service of outsourcing.

Are you ready to submit Annual Report?

Altum Funds or Plan B for Business in Latvia?

Many countries offer some good platforms for start-ups and new enterprises such as lower tax rates or even tax breaks, funds, loans and investors. Latvia is in a list of this countries thanks to ALTUM.

Why it could be interesting for you?

1. If you are owner of company so you can get loans to facilitate business operations and development. Type of loan depend of type and size of your company.
2. If you are just thinking about new start for yourself you can make a choice between loan to start a business, micro loans, seed and start-up venture capital programme, accelerator funds programme and others.

ALTUM is a state-owned development finance institution, which offers state aid for various target

groups with the help of financial tools (loans, credit guarantees, investing in venture capital funds, etc.).

The most great news that ALTUM supports enterprises at different stages of their development, starting

with developing business ideas to carrying out large projects if financing is not available in the private

finance sector.

If you have plan, idea and you want your big dream to come true in Latvia, it is time to do it because

deadline for term deposit agreements is 31 December 2020.

Newborn businessman or businesswoman can not forget about enterprise registration and other

aspects that could help to get loan. On the other hand, he/she also need to have plan B.

What do you need plan B?

1. If you are not sure about some points and you anyway do not have enough information that you can provide by your own.
2. If your vision of great business is not clear to others.
3. If you have difficulties with paperwork and understanding of rules, regulations, requirements and Laws
4. If for any reasons (something is not matching up) you did not get loan.

Find out more about this great opportunities and necessary steps of company registration with

Baltic Legal

Commercial activity

What is commercial activity?

Commercial activity is an open economic activity, performed by a merchant with the goal to get profit. A merchant - a merchant is a person, registered/recorded in the commercial register - can be an individual, sole trader, partnership and commercial company.
They are both legal and public activities so you can say they are open activities. Only the economic activity of a person who is registered in the commercial register and using the registered name - company name - can be a commercial activity. Merchant is doing business with his name and responsible for results of the commercial activities finances.

To start a commercial activity, you need:

You need to choose one of the available legal forms of business and register it in the commercial register what is called the Register of enterprises.
A merchant can define his main types of commercial activities during the registration commercial activity. He can also define them while registers tax authority or submit an annual return. A merchant can do any type of commercial activity that is not prohibited by law. Merchant must be registered as a taxpayer and must keep records in accordance with the legislation.

What is corporation and how does it work?

What is a corporation?

It is a firm that meets certain legal requirements to be recognized as having legal existence

is a group of people or company that is authorized to act as a single person and recognized

as a person in law. A legal entity that is distinct and separate from its owners.

How does it work?

The most known corporation organizational structure consists of the:

• Boards of the directors
• Officers
• Employees
• Shareholders and owners

There can be much more as company required.

Employees make the business run. Shareholders own the corporation. That ownership may

be 100 percent in the hands of one individual, divided within a family or a few individuals, or

spread among tens of thousands or millions. Though shareholders may not participate in the

day-to-day management or have a direct say in decision-making, major shareholders

nonetheless carry great weight in influencing corporate decisions. This group routinely votes

on the election and removal of directors, amending by-laws, major corporate changes

(mergers, sales, dissolution), disposition of corporate assets, and amendment of the

Articles of Incorporation. Other shareholders may participate in these activities but to a

lesser extent. The level of shareholder influence on the board of directors is one of many

things to consider when forming a new corporation.

Business expenses

Tax preparing
Tax preparers can ask for detailed, itemized copies of your expenses before submitting the return. Any business should save this kind of records for about 7 to 10 years from the date of filing.

There are 2 kinds of expenses:
Ordinary - means that most other self-employed taxpayers who work in your same business or trade also commonly pay for these things.
necessary - means that they assist you in doing business and, in fact, you might not be able to do business if you did not make the expenditure.

List of most common fully deductible business expenses:

• Accounting fees 
• Advertising 
• Bank charges 
• Commissions and sales expenses 
• Consultation expenses 
• Continuing professional education expenses 
• Contract labor costs 
• Credit and collection fees 
• Delivery charges 
• Dues and subscriptions 
• Employee benefit programs 
• Equipment rentals 
• Factory expenses 
• Insurance 
• Interest paid 
• Internet subscriptions, domain names, and hosting 
• Laundry 
• Legal fees 
• Licenses 
• Maintenance and repairs 
• Office expenses and supplies 
• Pension and profit-sharing plans 
• Postage 
• Printing and copying expenses 
• Professional development and training fees 
• Professional fees 
• Promotion 
• Rent 
• Salaries, wages, and other compensation 
• Security 
• Small tools and equipment 
• Software 
• Supplies 
• Telephone 
• Trade discounts 
• Travel 
• Utilities 

Then there are expenditures for which you can only claim a percentage.

Customer

What is the customer?

A customer is an individual or business that purchases the goods or services produced by a

business. Attracting customers is the primary goal of most public-facing businesses because

it is the customer who creates demand for goods and services. Businesses often compete

through advertisements or lowered prices to attract an ever-larger customer base.

How to get more customers?

If you’re having trouble expanding your customer base, you may be inadvertently narrowing

your focus—and with that, missing the mark with potential new customers.

Your existing network may be the best place to reach out to, as their good word of mouth will

help grow your customer base.

On a smaller, more immediately actionable level, there are plenty of strategies you can take

with your marketing that can potentially draw in new customers. Add a call to action for every

piece of marketing you send out—whether that be an Instagram post, a weekly newsletter,

or one of your offline marketing strategies.

Offer your customers a free trial of your product. Free trials are a great way to market since

they attract new customers and garner good reviews and testimonials. They also allow you to

get more feedback on new products and then make improvements where needed.

If you are a service-based business, offering your service for free, in exchange for the client

serving as a “case study” or providing a detailed account of the benefits of your service can

be a great way to get new clients.

Company name

The name by which people know your business. Different from your dba--which is the legal name you register for your business, this is the name you'd use to advertise and sell your products and services.

Choosing a name for a company can be the first step in developing a new identity for the business and establishing a new image. It's the first impression the public will have of your growing company. Today, coming up with a good business name is more difficult than ever because many of the best names have already been trademarked. It is not easy to choose your business or brand name.

How to choose a business name?

Choose a name that appeals not only to you but also to the kind of customers you're trying to attract. To get customers to respond to your business on an emotional level, choose a comforting or familiar name that conjures up pleasant memories. Stay away from cute puns that only you understand.

Your name can’t be the same as another registered company’s name.

What to avoid?

If your name is too similar to another company’s name you may have to change it if someone makes a complaint.

Avoid unusual spellings. Avoid picking names that don’t allow your business to move around or add to its product line. Don't pick a name that's long or confusing.

Example

Name changes may also be necessary when conflicts arise with names of other companies in the field as you expand into new markets. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar originally called his online auction service Auction Web. Later, trying to come up with something catchier, he picked Echo Bay. When he tried to register the name for his website, however, he found that echobay.com was already taken. Omidyar picked eBay from a list of available URLs that were similar to Echo Bay.

Seaports in Latvia

The port is a boundary-bound area, including an equator equipped with berths, land infrastructure and waterways for cargo, transport and forwarding operations, ship and passenger services, as well as various other auxiliary shipping related activities.

List of the port's in Latvia:

Bolderaja port

Bolderaja port is a port next to The Daugava River Entrance to the Sea. It was built in the 18th century.

Liepaja port

There are 14 stevedoring companies, 17 shipping companies, freight forwarders, customs brokers and other port service providers in Liepaja port, which provides around 2,000 jobs.

Riga port

The port of Riga is the largest port in Latvia which is managed by the Freeport of Riga Authority. It is located on both sides of the Daugava River at a distance of 15 km and is open for navigation in all seasons.

Riga Passenger Port

The port of Riga (official name Riga Passenger Terminal) is a passenger port in the capital of Latvia in Riga.

Roja port

Roja Port is a port located in Roja, Latvia. The port's access channel has a width of 60 meters, an escalator channel of 60 meters, an internal channel of 35 meters to a water level of 0 meters. The Rojas port has 9 berths with a total length of 814 m.

Skultes port

Fishing, timber, and peat export port. It is located on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Riga on the Baltic Sea.

Stena Line

Stena Line is one of the largest ferry companies in the world, carries out cargo and passenger transportation in Ireland, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, and Latvia.

Ventspils port

Ventspils Port is located on the Baltic Sea coast

The total area of ​​the port area is 2 451.39 ha. Ventspils Port is one of the leading ports in the Baltic Sea, is one of the first twenty of the leading European ports, after handling cargos. In 1997 Ventspils Port acquired the status of a free economic zone, which acted as an investment attraction factor and resulted in tax relief for companies.

Seaport business is growing not only in Latvia but also all around the world because ports are connected to each other.

There are a lot of opportunities doing seaport business starting from sea logistics business to sea passager business.

Business in Latvia: Languages practiced

Language is important in many aspects, thus in business communication and workflow language matters as well. Especially if you are international company then you have to make sure inner departments do understand each other and local people.

Language via conquest

Latvia is a multi-cultural country with long history of co-operation and/or being occupied by foreign nation forces. Therefore I will show and explain to you which languages Latvia and Latvians will be familiar to use in business and daily communication. Bear in mind that there has been active occupation in some point of time by Sweden, Germany, Lithuania (Poland-Lithuania) and Russia among some shorter period occupations. Recent USSR occupation has left Russian language as a legacy to Latvian nation.

Languages via Curriculum

In Latvian schools second and third language is being taught. Second is English language, third is to be chosen Russian or German. Approaching university youth is presented with various choices such as German, French, Swedish, Spanish etc. even Hebrew, Chinese and Arabic are chosen in rare cases.

Countrywide usage of language

Because of USSR occupation Russian language is mother tongue of 28% citizens of Latvia and is understood by 50%-60% of citizens making it widely used second language, however curriculum program of teaching English as second language from early 90's has made it widely understood, an estimate of 30% of public speaks/understands English language. Furthermore German, French and Spanish are popular hobbyist languages to learn.

So it is easy to say English and Russian will be understood and used enough to maintain daily workflow. Any other language is per CV request and is based around 2%-5%(speculative) of population.

Offshore company - documents for incorporation

An offshore company is a legal entity established in a tax haven or offshore financial center, being protected by specific legislation which guarantees a status of partial or full tax exemption. Yearly maintenance fees range from US $100 to US $1500 or more, depending of the type of the company and its jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, annual company fixed tax is paid to the government such as it is the case with the Republic of Panama. Shareholders and directors of an offshore company may enjoy generally a high level of privacy. In some jurisdictions, offshore companies may trade or do business only outside of the country in order to be tax exempt, while in others companies may do local and international business.

What documents are needed to incorporate offshore?

Commercial register of Latvia

Commercial register of Latvia provides following services. Read further to acknowledge Commercial Register functions in Latvia.

Online terminal of banks in Latvia

Online terminal of banks

Online banking is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a financial institution to conduct financial transactions on a website operated by the institution, such as a retail bank, virtual bank, credit union or building society. Online banking is also referred as Internet banking, e-banking, virtual banking and by other terms.

Online banking in Latvia

In Latvia banking sphere is well developed and any individual will enjoy high quality service. Read more to see what options online Latvian banks provide with it's users.

Structure of bank assets in Latvia

Structure of bank assets as of Q1 2014 in Latvia (source)
Loans - 53.4%
Due from credit institutions - 21.4%
Securities - 13.8%
Cash and deposits with the Bank of Latvia - 8.7%
Fixed assets and intangible assets - 0.6%
Other assets - 2.1%

Loans
In finance, a loan is a debt provided by one entity (organization or individual) to another entity at an interest rate, and evidenced by a note which specifies, among other things, the principal amount, interest rate, and date of repayment.

Securities
A security is a tradable financial asset of any kind.
Securities categorization:

• debt securities, (e.g., banknotes, bonds and debentures)
• equity securities, (e.g., common stocks)
• derivative securities, (e.g., forwards, futures, options and swaps).

Fixed assets

Fixed assets, also known as "tangible assets" or property, plant, and equipment (PP&E), is a term used in accounting for assets and property that cannot easily be converted into cash.

Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Latvia

ATM

A machine, activated by a magnetically encoded card or other medium, that can process a variety of banking transactions. These include accepting deposits and loan payments, providing withdrawals, and transferring funds between accounts.

ATM's in Latvia

As of 2014 there are 1154 active ATM's in Latvia.^[1] Latvia's 1,99^[2] million inhabitants hold 2385 bank payment cards.

Biggest bank ATM's locations

Swedbank: link
SEB: link
Citadele: link
DNB Nord: link

Nordea: link (Latvian)

SEB works to rebuild profits

RIGA - Although Swedish bank SEB has not yet recovered all that was lost during the financial crisis, overall, the bank’s operations have recently been profitable in Latvia, SEB bank President Ainars Ozols said in an interview with Rietumu Radio on Feb. 26, reports LETA.

“Overall, we have been operating with a small profit, but profit nonetheless, since SEB entered Latvia in 1993; however, following the crisis, we have not yet recovered what we lost,” confirmed Ozols. It is not a goal of the bank though to recover the lost money as soon as possible, but to organize operations so it would function without losses in the future.

2013 was a successful year for SEB bank - there were positive trends, new clients joined the bank and it began implementation of new projects, said Ozols. In terms of profits, 2013 was a “mediocre” year, however.

Source: http://baltictimes.delfi.lv/news/articles/34508/#.U1-SbFWSymE