Frequently Asked Questions

There are two possibilities to receive an exemption from the Natural Resources Tax (NRT):

1. Enter into an agreement with a packaging manager, e.g. Latvijas Zaļais punkts thus becoming a participant of a waste packaging management system;
2. Develop and put into practice a waste packaging management system yourself. The system should be coordinated with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.  The collection and fulfilment of the recovery norms have to be ensured by the company itself.

A company may chose the methodology used to calculate the weight of the packaging:
Method of direct determination - the packaging is weighted in accordance to the demands of the rules and regulations of Latvia, e.g. only certified scales may be used;
Method of indirect determination - the weight of the packaging is determined in one of the following ways:
1. Norms for use developed by the company and certified by the signature of a representative with the right to vote;
2. Using the weight of a packaging item as stated in the technical specification documents submitted by the supplier;
3. Data on the weight and type of analogous packaging (identical material and form) of analogous (identical) items;

According to Section 3 of the Natural Resources Law (15.12.2005) a taxpayer who first in the territory of the Republic of Latvia sell goods in packaging, uses purchased goods in packaging to ensure his or her economic activities or upon the provision of a service, attaches packaging to the product, and this packaging gets to the recipient of the service after the provision of the service.
In cases when the packaging does not get to the client – broken bottles, faulty or written-off goods, etc., the NRT does not have to be calculated as it has not been sold and is therefore not NRT taxable. 

To verify if an electronic equipment is NRT object and find out the applicable tax rate, please see Annex 7 of the Cabinet of Ministers’ regulation No.: 404 Procedures for the Calculation and Payment of Natural Resources Tax and Procedures for the Issuance of Permits for Use of Natural Resources (19.06.2007) specifying the commodity codes of taxable electric and electronic equipment. If the commodity code is included in the above-mentioned list, the item is NRT taxable.

According to Section 4 of the Law on Natural Resources Tax (15.12.2005) on new cars imported into Latvia, the NRT applies to three objects:

• new vehicles imported into Latvia;
• built-in vehicle batteries; 
• packaging of goods and products, e.g. packaging of car parts.