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World economic growth is slowing and it’s clear that this year will not be as good a year in the global economy as was last year. The results of a recent study show that companies' optimism regarding business success is slipping.

Goods and services are purchased constantly online in Estonia, yet our online retailers have untapped potential – we are lagging a bit behind the European Union average in cross-border online retail. It is worth putting more effort into sales of electronic goods and services to consumers in other member states, especially given that the European Commission has and will continue to simplify cross-border e-commerce, including changes in the tax system.

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.

On 1 January 2019, changes to the Commercial Code came into force, intended to resolve a few problems that have reared their heads in practice.

2019 has brought several changes to the process of filings made to the employment register. Besides the data currently required, now the working time rate, job title and workplace address must generally be specified.

Form INF 14, which needs to be submitted to the Tax and Customs Board, consists of several parts with different submission terms, the first of which is on 1 February 2019.

Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act that came into force on 1 January 2019 will lead to a decrease in the administrative burden on employers.

In the beginning of the year, several tax changes were introduced in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Some of the changes will become effective in 2019. In addition we shall highlight tax rates applicable in the Baltics as of 2019.

Grant Thornton Baltic is proud to be a local payroll partner of ADP in Baltic countries and been named as one of the winners for the 2018 Partner Excellence Award.

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.

According to Michael Porter, whose book Competitive Strategy is one of the most highly regarded works on management, a company develops a competitive advantage over its rivals when it purposefully differentiates activities from others in order to create unique value.