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Import taxes in Latvia are defined as “non-refundable monetary or product payments for the import of goods paid into the general state budget or the budget of a competent European Union institution”. Latvian laws provide for the following types of import taxes on goods entering the country:

consumption tax
tariff
consumption tax
Excise duty or excise duty is a special excise tax levied on the importation of certain categories of goods into the country. The aim of the consumption tax is to limit the import of goods that are harmful to health and/or the environment. Another aim of this import tax is to finance the state budget by taxing goods that are not essential to the consumer (similar to the luxury tax). There are currently several types of excise duty:

for alcohol
for tobacco products
for oil
for natural gas
for soft drinks and coffee
for electronic cigarette liquid
In all cases, the actual amount of the tax depends on the subspecies of a product and its amount. The excise duty must also be supplemented with all relevant documents upon import.

Tariff
The Customs Tariff is an import tax aimed at both increasing the state budget and protecting the internal market of Latvia and the EU. Therefore, the Latvian customs tariff is determined according to the “Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1754” issued by the European Union. In general, it depends on the customs value of an imported item, the cost of transportation, as well as other factors such as contracts and preference codes.

It should be noted that goods imported from other EU member states are considered goods in free circulation and are not subject to the customs tariff. This only applies to goods imported from third countries.

Other taxes
Import taxes are not the only taxes a foreign entrepreneur should think about when expanding their business to Latvia – please read the article on corporate taxes in Latvia for more information. You can also find out about tax incentives in Latvia to see what kind of government support your business can expect from tax.