Import taxes in Latvia
Import taxes in Latvia are defined as 'non-compensatable payments of money or product for importing goods that are paid in the general state budget or the budget of a relevant institution of the European Union'. Latvian laws provide the following kinds of import taxes for goods entering the country:
- excise tax
- customs tariff
Excise tax
The excise tax or excise duty is a special consumption tax that is levied for importing certain groups of good into the country. The aim of the excise tax is to limit the import of goods that are harmful to health and/or the environment. An additional aim of this import tax is to provide funds to the state budget by taxing goods that are not essential for consumers (somewhat similar to the luxury tax). Currently, there is a number of different types of the excise tax:
- for alcohol
- for tobacco products
- for oil
- for natural gas
- for non-alcoholic drinks and coffee
- for electronic cigarettes liquid
In all the cases the actual amount of the tax depends on the sub-type of a product and its amount. The excise tax must also be supplemented with all the relevant documentation upon importing.
Customs tariff
The customs tariff is an import tax that is aimed at both increasing the state budget and protecting the internal market of Latvia and the EU. As such, the Latvian customs tariff is set in accordance with the 'Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1754', set forth by the European Union. In general, it depends on the customs value of an imported article, transportation charges, as well as other factors such as treaties and preference codes.
It should be noted, that goods imported from other EU member-states are considered to be 'free-circulation goods' and are not subjects to the customs tariff. This is applicable only to goods imported from third countries.
Other taxes
Import taxes are not the only taxes a foreign entrepreneur should think about when expanding the business to Latvia - please refer to the article about business taxes in Latvia to discover more information. Besides that, you can alse read about tax incentives in Latvia, to know, what kind of governmental support your business might expect tax-wise.
