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On 25 September 2024, the Estonian government submitted a draft law on the defense tax to the Parliament, which introduces a temporary defense tax consisting of three components, including a 2% tax on corporate profits. Most companies will have to pay the defense tax for the first time on 10 September 2026.

Pursuant to amendments that entered into force last year, the Commercial Register can fine or compulsorily dissolve those who are late filing an annual report. Compulsory dissolution can be done if the company lacks registered assets (i.e. no assets evident in the land register, ship register, Commercial Register or Estonian securities register), is not a party to any current judicial proceedings, criminal enforcement proceedings or tax disputes.

The rules on the contact person underwent a facelift as part of company law reform, the majority of the amendments of which came into force on 1 February 2023.

Last year, an amendment to the Commercial Register Act was passed, which meant more fines for companies for the purpose of making the Estonian business environment more transparent.

On 16 April 2024, Parliament adopted legislation allowing those on sick leave for extended periods to continue working under adapted conditions.

Starting on 1 October 2023, amendments come into force under which construction contractors must register the construction site and contracting chain in the Tax and Customs Board’s subcontracting chain and working time information system.

In the beginning of the year, several tax changes were introduced in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Gaily Kuusik, head of Grant Thornton Baltic's business process solutions, gives an overview of the legislative amendments that have already come into effect or will soon come into effect.

From 01.01.2024, the Employment Contract Act will undergo several changes in the wording of the provisions, which are due to changes in the Family Act.

On 1 February 2023, the new Commercial Register Act entered into force, ushering in significant changes to the Commercial Code and other laws regulating the activities of corporate entities. Among other things, the changes also concern the net asset requirement, related to one of the major changes – the removal of the requirement of minimum share capital for private limited companies.

The Employment Contracts Act provides for compensation for both employees and employers in a number of situations. In Supreme Court practice, the compensation has been viewed as indemnifying a loss, and as such, both parties have to prove that they incurred losses.

This article covers the key differences between MiCAR and MLTFPA, the fate of the old license, new taxonomies introduced in MiCAR, key regulatory requirements for CASPs, key regulatory requirements for issuing assets and possible redundant requirements of MLTFPA.

Spring is here, which means it’s the time that many companies reporting their financial results have made the decision to pay out dividends. This brings up a number of questions for management and financial teams. We try to answer the most frequently asked ones below.