After the introduction of the tax reform, tax accounting will become more complex. And this is not because it will take several years for businesses, private persons and tax inspectors to get used to the system. The new laws in general are not meant to make things simpler, says Latvian Tax Consultant Association board member Ainis Dābols.

79% of residents support the idea of having a people’s elected president, according to data from SKDS. Are Latvian residents sufficiently competent to make such a decision? What would such a choice be based on? How would realizing such an idea change the existing interior structure of the country, says Turība University lecturer and Riga TV24 and Latvijas Radio journalist Ansis Bogustovs.

One of this summer’s hottest and most discussed piece of news was the proposal to allow residents to elect the country’s president. Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis’ 22 June speech to the parliament, in which he proposed allowing the people to elect the president in 2019, caused even more discussions.

By increasing excise tax for beer, the goal of reducing alcohol consumption will not be achieved. This is because consumption of other alcoholic beverages will increase as a result, notes CEO of Latvian Breweries Union Peteris Linins, commenting on the government’s plans to raise excise tax for beer.

In May, the news came from Kyrgyzstan stating that four Latvian citizens were sentenced to 20 years each in prison. Such a tough punishment was also determined for Valeri Belokon. It should be immediately emphasized that the Latvian citizens are not actually imprisoned. The court issued the default judgment (a judgment given in default of appearance in a civil action linked to criminal proceedings). What this all is about? And how does this story has emerged?

Growth of Baltic economies is expected to speed up under influence of global perspectives and domestic growth powers. Latvia’s growth will be driven forward by consumption and better external conditions, as well as inflowing EU funds, SEB Bank macroeconomic expert Dainis Gaspuitis shares his predictions with BNN.

There are many different measurements in the world that seem impossible to measure – our quality of life and development progress, says Bank of Latvia economist Daina Paula in a publication of makroekonomika.lv, commenting on different measurements that help characterize development of national economy and people’s quality of life.

There are multiple flaws in Latvia’s tax system. Low tax collection is caused by high grey economy proportion, not low tax rates. The tax burden for honest taxpayers in Latvia is rather high. This especially applies to labour tax, economist Uldis Rutkaste says about Latvia’s tax reform.

Economic growth rate continues to speed up and become more balanced in all three Baltic States. Thanks to more rapid cyclic growth in Eurozone than expected and limited influence of political uncertainty on the global economy, Nordea Bank’s economists predict 3% growth in Lithuania and Latvia, and 2.5% growth in Estonia.

«All reforms cost money – taxpayers’ money. This is why I would like to hear some convincing arguments from policy-makers that income will exceed expenses,» says associated professor of Stockholm School of Economics in Riga Arnis Sauka.