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The crisis caused by the coronavirus is coinciding with the peak season for preparing annual reports. It raises the question of whether and how aspects related to the coronavirus be recognized in the 2019 financial statements and if so, how? Grant Thornton Baltic partner Mart Nõmper gives instructions in his article.

Estonia declared a state of emergency (defined in national law as “emergency situation”) on 12 March 2020 and this affects the rights and responsibilities arising from employment relationships. What steps can an employer take to slow the spread of the virus while keeping the work processes flowing, and what are an employee’s rights to refuse to come to work? Grant Thornton Baltic specialists Kristel Tiits and Lee Laanemäe give overview and suggestions on how to best deal with the current situation.

In simple terms, copyright is the right over intellectual property. Copyright is gained automatically and requires no separate registration or other completion of formalities. Grant Thornton Baltic specialists Kristel Tiits and Lee Laanemäe are explaining the details in depth in their article.

Hundreds of companies are bought and sold each year in Estonia. In the case of bigger transactions, relying on assistance from transaction advisers has become the norm, although for the sake of total certainty, it’s a good idea to bring aboard an adviser even on smaller acquisitions.

Below we list eight main reasons why companies prefer outsourcing payroll operations instead of a dedicated in-house department.

The European Union has adopted new rules on VAT that will simplify and facilitate e-commerce. The rules will come into effect in full on 1 January 2021, but companies that provide electronic services will be able to benefit from the rules already starting 1 January 2019.

It is extremely important for managers to pursue self-improvement. As the saying goes: a fish starts rotting from the head. Unfortunately, managerial culture in Estonia is not at a level we can be satisfied with. We have many companies where money and financial results are managed but where the people are not. Actually, instead of money and results, it’s people who should be managed. If so, the good results will not be long in coming.

This year, a number of large-scale purchase and sale transactions have provided much fodder for discussion in the media – Nelja Energia, Luminor and Utilitas are three examples. The large transactions always stand out, but this year has seen many mid-sized and small company acquisitions as well.

Although employer branding is seen as mainly the domain of personnel and marketing people, it isn’t only their function. Managers have just as important a role here, because it is managers who can leave employees with a good experience of the organisation as employer. Or the opposite – a negative experience, because Estonia has many organisations that have a substandard managerial culture and instead of leading people, they’re busy managing money and processes.

United Motors has purchased the distributor of Peugeot and Hyundai in Estonia. Grant Thornton Baltic provided advisory services for the transaction.

Next year, amendments to the Taxation Act are expected to enter into force. One of the amendments calls for more data to be added to the employment register, which will however increase the workload for accountants.

International commerce is increasingly digital. But the global taxation system is still aimed at traditional “brick and mortar” needs. The action plan of the OECD’s package of measures to combat base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) acknowledges the need for modernisation. This has been partly achieved after the BEPS Action Plan was released in October 2015.

25 October will mark five months since the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation . There was much confusion before that. Companies wondered whether employees’ birthdays could be printed out and tacked to the wall in the break room. Maybe Christmas presents could no longer be given to employees’ children because that, too, would require the children’s personal data to be “processed”.

Grant Thornton has released a new guide to help international entrepreneurs navigate transfer pricing regulations in different countries.

This year is the point where the economy peaked – it can’t get any better. We already see economic growth tapering off in Estonia, the EU and elsewhere. But will we lose our footing as we slide downhill or will we be able to softly glissade down the easy slopes?

From the 1st of September 2018, all Estonian companies will be required to submit data on their beneficial owners to the Commercial Register of Estonia.