Frequently Asked Questions

The share capital shall be 2 800 EUR at the company's registration. The first installment shall be 50%. It is necessary to deposit a remainder of an amount over one year.

No, one person can’t own two Latvian microenterprises.

VAT number can be obtained only for LTD company.

Registered fixed assets value – if the company has fixed assets (real estate, cars, etc.) it can be taken into account in the requisite capital.

The English LTD should receive a VAT number when income is more than 81 000 GBP.

More information can be found by this link: http://www.gov.uk/vat-registration-thresholds

The English LLP has no owners / directors. LLP belongs to the partners which should be at least two. Also, there is the obligatory requirement to have at least 2 founders - Designated Members who have the same rights and obligations in the LLP as any other member. However, Designated Members are also responsible pursuant to the law for:

• Appointment of an auditor (if it's necessary);
• Signing invoices on behalf of members;
• Submission of reports to the Registrar;
• Notification of the Registrar about any changes of the partnership’s composition or any changes of the registered office;
• Preparation and signing of annual reports;
• Speech on behalf of the LLP in case of liquidation or dissolution of the partnership.

VAT invoice is required in case of a transaction between the two companies which have a VAT number. If anything is bought for the business activities then the VAT invoice is required in order to return later the VAT from the British internal revenue service namely HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The English company should issue VAT invoice in paper or electronic form with a payment time limit.

VAT invoice is not required if the client (second party of the transaction) is not registered as taxpayer. In practice, there is no need to check when the counterparty is a taxpayer.

According to rules of the Cabinet of Ministers № 276 dated June 26, 2001 with last amendments dated March 8, 2013, the areas of low taxation are recognized:

1.24. Hong Kong

Territories of United Kingdom:

1.2. Anguilla

1.12. Bermuda Islands

1.16. Jersey

1.19. Guernsey

1.20. Gibraltar

1.28. Cayman Islands

1.45. Isle of Man

1.47. Monserrat

1.50. Alderney

1.51. Saint Helena

According to the law on company profits, paragraph 3, part 8: " independently of any conditions in this law, tax on company profits, at a rate of 15%, levied on all payments and dividends that are paid by residents or non-residents of Latvia to legal, private or other persons who are located in the territories of the countries which are specified in the rules of the Cabinet of Ministers № 276, making a payment to the bank accounts of their representatives or third parties and payments which are made in the form of settlement payments.

Exceptions are payments for the supply of goods and purchase of security papers in the EU zone if these goods or security papers were purchased at market price.

Also:

5% applies to interest payments if the credit institution registered in Latvia pays them,

30% for the extraordinary dividends".

Profit of micro-enterprise should be more than 1 400 EUR (as the salary of board member must be not less than 1 400 EUR if he received a residence permit in Latvia). The company's profit is taxed – 11%. The salary is paid to the employee after the payment of profit tax.

An example:

Profit of micro-enterprise – 1 600 EUR.

Tax – 176 EUR (11% of 1 600 EUR).

1 600 EUR (profit) - 176 EUR (tax) = 1 424 EUR (rest).

The salary is paid to the employee from these 1 424 EUR.

Income which is received by a Hong Kong company from a source outside Hong Kong (such as dividends which have been paid by a foreign company) is not taxed in Hong Kong.

It is necessary to send the Estonian notary the following documents:

• Scanned copies of the passports of the current owner and the future owner.
• Scanned copy of the Memorandum of Association.
• Purchase and sale conditions (written in free form).

It is necessary to come to Estonia in 2-4 days for the signing of documents on the change of owner. The residency status of owners doesn't matter. It costs about 50 EUR.

Corporate tax in the UK is 20% if the company's profits is less than 300 000 GBP or – 21% if the company's profits is more than this amount. The changes of a single corporate tax equal to 20% took effect from April 1, 2015. More information can be found by this link: www.gov.uk/corporation-tax-rates

The state, where the opening of a branch is planned, will require the registration papers in the English language.

Advantages of opening a company in the Netherlands:

• An absence of taxes on dividends and royalties.
• Tax treaty.
• Funds, which are received as dividends, will not be taxed in the Netherlands.

– from 1 EUR.

Annual accounts for Hong Kong companies is submitted yearly from the date of company’s registration. The last term – the 42^nd day after the date of registration. The cost of filling the annual accounts is about 12 EUR. If the annual accounts is submitted after the 42^nd day then the fee may increase from 100 EUR to 400 EUR. A calculator of submitting the annual accounts can be found by this link (it is necessary to specify the date of the company’s registration and the calculator will show the deadline of submitting for the next annual accounts): www.companies-registry.hk/e-alert/calculator.asp?lang=1

According to the Commercial Code (Äriseadustik¹), §180¹ Compensation of the Board members (§180¹ Juhatuse liikme tasustamine):

(1) Decision of an amount of the paid salary to the Board member is decided by the owner or Board of the company (if the company has the Board).

This legal norm doesn’t establish a minimum or maximum limits on the salary of the Board member. Therefore, the Board member can work without a payment for labour.