Economic activity registration, closure take 3–10 working days

A self-employed person registering an economic activity with the Valsts ieņēmumu dienests (VID) gets the entry within 3–10 working days of the application's receiptVID, and the same window applies when the activity is closedVID. The 3–10 working-day service time covers both directions — registration and closure — and it is counted from receipt of the applicationVID. Filing stays free of charge and electronic through the Electronic Declaration System (EDS).

The registration application sits in EDS under Dokumenti – Izveidot jaunu dokumentu – Nodokļu maksātāju reģistrācijas un datu izmaiņu veidlapas – Nodokļu maksātāja (Fiziskas personas) reģistrācija (saimnieciskā darbība, darbs Latvijā pie darba devēja ārvalstnieka u.c.). The form requires the field of activity under the NACE 2.1 classification, the chosen tax payment regime — “vispārējā kārtība” or “mikrouzņēmumu nodoklis” — or the separate activity type “paziņotā (nereģistrētā) saimnieciskā darbība”, plus other basic information on the planned activity. Reduced patent-fee payers use a different form in EDS under Dokumenti – Izveidot jaunu dokumentu – Iedzīvotāju ienākuma nodokļa dokumenti – Iesniegums reģistrācijai par samazinātās patentmaksas maksātāju, and the detailed registration procedure is set out in the methodical material “Nodokļu maksātāju un nodokļu maksātāju struktūrvienību reģistrācija Valsts ieņēmumu dienestā”.

The register mechanics behind the filing follow VID's methodical material on taxpayer registration: VID enters taxpayers and taxpayer structural units in the taxpayer register no later than three working days after receiving the registration documents, and within the same window enters changes to registration data or adopts a refusal decision. The taxpayer or unit counts as registered on the date of the entry, entries on registered performers of economic activity reach the publicly available part of the register within one working day, and no paper registration certificate is issued.

Closing the activity is a separate filing with its own deadlines that still bind the taxpayer. Performers in the general and micro-enterprise regimes file within 10 days of the decision to end the activity; performers of notified (unregistered) activity file within 5 working days of the end of the contract; reduced patent-fee activity ends automatically when the stated year or half-year expires. The closure application is filed in EDS on the same registration form, selecting the activity type being ended, choosing “mainīt reģistrācijas datus” and entering the end date of the activity, while a structural unit is closed within 10 days in writing via EDS under Reģistri → Struktūrvienības. After closure, general-regime performers still file next year's annual income declaration with the computed iedzīvotāju ienākuma nodoklis and the final self-employed report with VSAOI, and micro-enterprise-regime performers file the final MUN declaration by the cessation of the activity and pay the tax due.

The rest of the route is unchanged: performers notify VID of settlement accounts opened in Latvia and abroad, micro-enterprise-regime performers may use the economic-activity income account through which the bank cooperates with VID on the declaration and payment, a structural unit outside the registered address is registered separately, employees are registered separately, VAT registration follows its own thresholds including the 50 000 euro twelve-month and 10 000 euro intra-EU acquisition figures, and reporting runs quarterly or annually depending on the regime.

Legal basis: the filing route and the 3–10 working-day service time follow VID's “Kā reģistrēt un veikt saimniecisko darbību” guidance; register timing follows VID's “Nodokļu maksātāju un nodokļu maksātāju struktūrvienību reģistrācija Valsts ieņēmumu dienestā” methodical material.