INTELLECTUAL ECONOMICS 2007, Number 2(2)
Gunta Kaulina, Aivars KrastinšAPPLICATION OF VALUE ADDED TAX TO CARGO TRANSPORTATION SERVICES IN LATVIA
Mykolas Romeris University Publishing Centre. Vilnius. Lithuania 2007 Nr.2(2), p. 14–18
Summary
Starting from 1 May 2004 Latvia like all other 10 new EU member states had to introduce all requirements of the Sixth Council Value Add Tax (VAT) Directive which regulates application of value added tax in EU. Generally Latvia has implemented these requirements but there are some areas where still some misunderstandings exist in Latvian VAT legislation and practical life. One of such areas is application of VAT to cargo transportation services. Main requirements and problems existing in Latvia are described in this article. Since application of VAT on transportation services depends on the status of business partners involved in the transaction, schemes are included in the article, which demonstrate how VAT should be applied. There are three different treatments in the Latvian VAT law on application of VAT on transportation services. The first explains the application of VAT on international transport and services provided by international transport. This explanation has already been in force before Latvia’s accession to EU. The second treatment regulates application of VAT to internal transportation services. And the third treatment is in force only from 1 May 2004 and explains how VAT must be applied to transportation services between EU member states. Since transportation services between member states also could be treated as international transportation a lot of misunderstandings and disputes between taxpayers and tax administration take place. Simultaneously disputable interpretations of government institutions, and issues that are not clarified leave room for different interpretations.
JEL Classiffication: F190.
Keywords: value added tax, cargo transportation, international transport.