Read our insights, reports and more

New regulations have come into effect or will soon come into effect in Estonia, which will impose a range of information security obligations on various sectors. Entrepreneurs are struggling to understand where to start and which direction to go.

In recent months, there has been much discussion about reducing the reporting burden of sustainability for companies and the European Commission's desire to simplify reporting.

The Estonian information security standard (E-ITS) is an Estonian-language standard compatible with the Estonian legal system and developed for ensuring protection for business processes and information systems used for fulfilling public functions.

We are already three months into 2025. Establishing a whistleblower channel has been obligatory for all companies with more than 50 employees for exactly that long – a requirement that stems from the Whistleblower Protection Act.

On 26 February, the European Commission released significant proposals for easing the European Union’s sustainability rules. Called the Omnibus Package, the proposals covers the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and EU Taxonomy regulations.

This International Women’s Day, we shine the spotlight on our newest female leaders—this season, Grant Thornton Baltic’s Estonian office welcomed three new women partners. How did Gaily Kuusik, Terje Liiv, and Anni Vaiksaar reach senior management, and what unique values do they believe women can bring to leadership?

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which came into effect on January 17 this year, aims to prevent cyber threats and reduce the impact of incidents on businesses and the broader European financial sector.

Companies are running out of time to start this year’s ESG report process – in fact, a business starting today might not make it in time. “That doesn’t mean they should just forgo submitting a report. It’s worth making the effort and getting at least half of it done,” said Grant Thornton Baltic partner and Head of Audit and Assurance Services Mart Nõmper.

It is becoming more accepted that companies should not only focus on their own main goal – earning a profit – but also consider the environmental and social impact of their activities.

A long-awaited legislative amendment has finally arrived: the thresholds for audit and review obligation will rise by 25%.

2025 is the first time that public interest entities will be required to prepare a sustainability report – which must be validated by an auditor – for the preceding year. Nine of Grant Thornton Baltic’s auditors were recently certified to audit sustainability reports, which will allow our network to provide service to many businesses and organisations subject to the obligation.

The Whistleblower Protection Act, which came into effect on September 1, 2024, protects employees, shareholders, and clients in the event of corporate misconduct, but there is still confusion in certain situations about how to interpret the law precisely.

On December 11 2024, the Parliament of Estonia passed the Defence Tax Act, which will apply to individuals, companies, and non-residents earning taxable income in Estonia.

Whether the 2024 packaging report needs to be audited depends on whether the most recent audited packaging report was for 2020 or 2021.

How has the auditors’ market changed and why is it hard to find sufficiently qualified specialists? What sorts of trends will global competition, workforce shortage and sustainability reporting requirements bring about?

The details of the defense tax that will take a bite out of corporate profits appear to be rife with inequality and unfairness, and a closer look reveals situations where taxes must be paid by those who haven’t turned an actual profit.