Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has called a meeting of the State Defence Council (VGT) for 23 January 2024, BNS reports. The meeting will discuss a strategic threat assessment from the Lithuanian intelligence services, the structure of the national defence system, and the economic and financial measures for building an army division. Lithuania plans to establish…
The Estonian government has approved draft legislation to introduce an annual car tax and a vehicle registration fee, ERR reports. Under the plan, the new law will enter into force as of 2025. The amount of the car tax and the registration fee will depend on the vehicle’s emissions and age as well as weight…
Retailers in Estonia expect declining sales in the first half of 2024 amid lower consumer confidence, ERR reports. Many consumers plan to go shopping in neighbouring countries due to the rise in the VAT rate from 20% to 22% as of 1 January 2024, according to a Norstat poll for Citadele bank, BNS reports. The…
Estonian President Alar Karis has vetoed amendments to the land tax act, which were passed by the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, in December 2023, ERR reports. The President asked the Supreme Court to declare the amendments unconstitutional. Karis said that he used his veto because the government linked the adoption of the amendments to a…
Estonia’s Minister of Defence, Hanno Pevkur, said that the Estonian Defence Forces believed that the country’s defence spending could rise to 4.5% of GDP, ERR reports. However, Pevkur emphasised the need for a “reasonable limit” due to investments in health care, social welfare, and education. He acknowledged the desire for increased spending on defence given…
The Latvian government does not plan to make major changes to taxation in 2024, Finance Minister Arvils Aseradens assured, LSM reports. He said that now was not a good time to make changes in VAT, labour taxes, personal income tax, or corporate income tax. However, the Ministry of Finance will propose raising the excise duties…
Estonia’s central bank, the Bank of Estonia, opposes the government’s plan to replace Estonia’s self-imposed budgetary discipline rules with the EU’s less stringent budget rules, ERR reports. Ülo Kaasik, vice-president of the Bank of Estonia, insisted that changing the rules simply because of an inability to meet them was never a good idea. He warned…
The Estonian government has agreed on the state budget for 2024, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas announced, ERR reports. Under the agreement, the government will introduce no new taxes in addition to ones implemented earlier. The government will not impose a new tax on commercial banks, which will instead pay more taxable dividends. Also, the government…
Lithuania risks losing millions of euros in EU funds if key reforms, including a tax reform, are not implemented, European Commission (EC) Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis warned, LRT reports. Dombrovskis will discuss the progress of the tax reform package with Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte and Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste in Vilnius on 7-8 September 2023. Dombrovskis…