Latvia
A. Progress in the implementation of the minimum standard
Latvia has 62 tax agreements in force, as reported in its response to the Peer Review questionnaire. Two of those agreements, the agreements with Japan and Switzerland comply with the minimum standard.
Latvia signed the MLI in 2017 and deposited its instrument of ratification on 29 October 2019. The MLI entered into force for Latvia on 1 February 2020. Latvia has not listed its agreements with Germany and North Macedonia but indicated in its response to the Peer Review questionnaire that bilateral negotiations would be pursued in respect of its agreement with Germany. These agreements will therefore not, at this stage, be modified by the MLI. North Macedonia have listed their agreements with Latvia under the MLI.
Latvia is generally implementing the minimum standard through the inclusion of the preamble statement and the PPT.1
The agreements that will be modified by the MLI will come into compliance with the minimum standard once the provisions of the MLI take effect.
B. Implementation issues
As mentioned above, Latvia has not listed its agreement with North Macedonia under the MLI. Listing the agreement under the MLI or entering into bilateral renegotiations to implement the minimum standard would ensure that the minimum standard could be implemented in that non-covered agreement.
Note
← 1. For its agreements listed under the MLI, Latvia is implementing the preamble statement (Article 6 of the MLI) and the PPT (Article 7 of the MLI).