Latvia

Latvia is an EU member state with a statutory tax-residency framework that distinguishes between domestic tax residence and treaty residence. Immigration rules are separate from tax residency.

Informational overview of domestic tax-residency and residence rules.

Tax residency

Under the Latvian Law on Taxes and Duties, an individual is considered a Latvian tax resident if at least one of the following applies:

In determining a person's resident status, the State Revenue Service of Latvia (Valsts ieņēmumu dienests, VID) may also evaluate the person's personal and economic connections with Latvia and another country. Relevant factors include:

A person who will not be recognized as a resident in the post-tax year will not be recognized as a resident in the tax year after the date they left Latvia, provided that during the period after that date the person has closer ties with the foreign country than with Latvia.

Declared place of residence: the person's declared place of residence (deklarētā dzīvesvieta) is in the Republic of Latvia. The declared place of residence is the person's officially registered residential address in Latvia.
183-day rule: the person stays in Latvia for 183 days or more in any 12-month period that starts or ends in the tax year. The test is therefore not limited to the calendar year.
Latvian Government employment abroad: the person is a Latvian citizen employed abroad by the Government of the Republic of Latvia.
whether the person's family, including spouse and children, has its permanent residence abroad;
whether the person owns or rents immovable property abroad;
whether the person makes mandatory state social-insurance contributions in the foreign country.

Day counting

Declared place of residence: this criterion does not depend on the number of days spent in Latvia. If the person's declared place of residence is in Latvia, this is sufficient to satisfy the corresponding domestic tax-residency criterion.
183-day rule: the person must be present in Latvia for 183 days or more in any 12-month period that starts or ends in the tax year. The relevant period is therefore not necessarily the calendar year. Separate periods of presence in Latvia are aggregated within the applicable 12-month period. Latvian official sources do not publish an explicit day-counting rule, so counting each day of presence as a full day is the conservative approach.
Latvian Government employment abroad: this criterion does not contain a separate day-count requirement. It applies where the individual is a Latvian citizen employed abroad by the Government of the Republic of Latvia.

Tax consequences

Latvian tax residents are generally subject to Latvian personal income tax on worldwide income, subject to applicable exemptions, reliefs and tax treaties. Latvian non-residents are generally subject to Latvian tax on Latvian-source income.

Migration / EU residence

EU/EEA and Swiss nationals benefit from EU free-movement rules. For stays exceeding three months, registration or other residence formalities may apply. Third-country nationals generally require the appropriate visa and/or residence permit, depending on the purpose and duration of their stay.

Orientation references

Law On Taxes and Duties, Section 14, statutory domestic criteria for Latvian tax residence
State Revenue Service of Latvia (Valsts ieņēmumu dienests, VID), “Determination of residence status” (Rezidences statusa noteikšana), official guidance on tax residence criteria
Latvian immigration / EU free-movement framework