Company formation in Latvia: your SIA, with the official fees and a remote route
Balt Partners (FPFM SIA) is a company in Riga that prepares and files SIA formations for founders living in Latvia or abroad.
We draft the founding documents, prepare the legal address notice and the beneficial owner data, and file the application with the Register of Enterprises. You sign online with a Latvian e-signature, or before a notary if you don't have one.
An SIA caps your risk at the capital you put in
The Latvian limited liability company, open to people and companies, residents or not.
Sabiedriba ar ierobezotu atbildibu
The SIA is the Latvian limited liability company, close to an LLC or a Ltd. Its founders and shareholders can be natural or legal persons, resident in Latvia or not. A standard SIA needs at least EUR 2,800 of share capital, paid in full before the registration application is filed. A reduced-capital SIA can start with less, under the conditions in the table below. If you will stay abroad, start with the SIA guide for non-residents. If the founder is an overseas company, see the dedicated Latvian subsidiary process.
Tax on profit
0% corporate income tax while profit stays in the company. 20% when it is distributed, on the gross base: the net dividend divided by 0.8, which comes to 25% of the net amount paid out. From 2026, a company owned only by natural persons can opt for 15% CIT on dividends plus 6% personal income tax on them. That adds up to about 20.1% of gross profit, so the option does not lower the total.
VAT registration
The VAT registration application can go to the Register together with the company application. The domestic registration threshold is EUR 50,000. The standard rate is 21%, with reduced rates of 12% and 5%. The microenterprise tax regime is not open to an SIA, whatever its capital.
Know the Register's fee before you start
State fees paid to the Treasury, as published by the Register of Enterprises and set by Cabinet Regulation No. 583, annex II.
| Case | State fee | Register processing time |
|---|---|---|
| SIA with one founder | EUR 75 | 1-3 working days |
| SIA with two or more founders | EUR 75 | 3 working days |
| SIA with two or more founders, faster processing | EUR 225 | 1 working day |
| Reduced-capital SIA (Commercial Law, art. 185.1) | EUR 20 | Not published on the Register's fees page |
These amounts go to the Treasury. They are not our fees, and they leave out notary, apostille and translation costs, which depend on your country and on the provider. Online, the fee is paid in the Register's e-service, registrs.ur.gov.lv, when the application is prepared. By post, you pay before sending and put the proof of payment in the envelope; a bank transfer can be made 2 days before posting. In both cases the Register registers the company only once the fee has reached the Treasury account.
The share capital is a different matter. It is not a fee: it stays in the company's account as company money. Which capital rules apply depends on the type of SIA you choose.
Standard or reduced-capital SIA: pick the rules that fit your plans
Commercial Law, art. 146, 185, 185.1 and 186, and the Register's comparison of business types.
| Rule | Standard SIA | Reduced-capital SIA |
|---|---|---|
| Share capital | EUR 2,800 or more | Below EUR 2,800; a share has a minimum nominal value of 1 cent |
| Founders and members | Natural or legal persons, residents or non-residents | 1 to 5 founders and 1 to 5 members, all natural persons |
| Further conditions | No such conditions | Every board member is a member, and each member holds only one company of this kind |
| How the capital is paid | Cash, or a contribution in kind that is valued | Cash only |
| Profit reserve | Not required by art. 185.1 | At least 25% of each year's profit; dividends come only from what remains |
| If a condition stops being met | Not applicable | Capital raised to EUR 2,800 within 3 months |
| If the company becomes insolvent | Liability limited to the capital | Members jointly liable up to the gap between EUR 2,800 and the capital paid |
| State fee | EUR 75 | EUR 20 |
| A company as shareholder | Allowed | Not allowed |
The reduced-capital SIA works for one to five individuals who want to start small and accept the reserve rule. If a company is going to hold shares, now or after a future investment round, choose the standard SIA from the start: with a corporate member the conditions fail, and the capital has to reach EUR 2,800 within 3 months anyway.
Every document the Register asks for, prepared and filed
Our team in Riga prepares the file and submits it. You sign in the way your route allows.
Articles of association
The founding agreement or decision and the articles of association, drafted under the Latvian Commercial Law in Latvian and English, and written around your activity and your shareholding.
Commercial register
The full application to the Register of Enterprises (Uznemumu registrs): founding documents, each board member's written consent, the legal address notice, the first section of the shareholders' register and the beneficial owner information. We file it once everything is signed and the capital is paid.
Intra-EU VAT number
The VAT registration application for the State Revenue Service (VID), filed with the Register at the same time as the company application if you want VAT from the start. If the VID asks for proof of the company's capacity to trade, we prepare the reply with you.
Registered address
A legal address in Riga, with what the notice to the Register needs: the cadastral designation of the premises and a confirmation that the company can be reached there and has a legal basis to be there. Official mail is received and forwarded to you.
Company stamp
A company stamp, made on request, for contracts or counterparts that still ask for a stamped signature.
Full support
One point of contact, in English, from the first call to the registration documents. At each step you know what is pending and which official time applies.
Forming an SIA from abroad: the signing route that fits your documents
You don't need to live in Latvia to found an SIA. Your situation decides how you sign and which papers need an apostille.
You have a Latvian secure e-signature
With a Latvian eID card, an eParaksts card or eParaksts Mobile, you sign in the e-service or with the secure e-signature and a time stamp, and the application is filed online. The signatures need no notary.
You have no Latvian e-signature
A notary certifies the signatures and the documents are posted to the Register. A power of attorney to sign such a document must itself be notarised. Public documents issued abroad need an apostille and a notarised translation into Latvian; private documents in a foreign language need a certified translation.
A company will hold the shares
Only with a standard SIA: a legal person cannot be a member of a reduced-capital SIA. The foreign company's register extract is a public document, so it needs an apostille and a notarised Latvian translation. The Latvian subsidiary process covers this case.
Whatever the route, the capital comes before the filing. The law requires it to be paid in full before the registration application goes in, into a payment account opened in the name of the company being founded. Whether a bank or a payment institution opens that account, and when, is for the institution to decide after its checks. We prepare the documents it usually asks for; nobody can promise its answer.
Up to EUR 50,000 of cash contributions, the founders confirm in the application that the account was opened and the capital paid. Above that amount, a certificate from the payment service provider is required. The beneficial owners are declared in the registration application, and later changes go to the Register within 14 days.
For the wider picture of running a Latvian company from abroad, read the EU company formation guide for non-residents and what business substance in Latvia means for an SIA.
Each step with its official time, so you can plan
There is no guaranteed overall date. The Register and the VID set their own times, and collecting the documents depends on your route.
Name check and documents
We check with you that the company name is free, collect your passport or EU ID card details, then draft the founding documents, the board members' consents, the legal address notice and the beneficial owner information. With a Latvian e-signature you sign online. Without one, count the time a notary, an apostille and a notarised translation take where you live.
Capital paid in
The capital set in the founding agreement is paid in full into the account of the company in formation: at least EUR 2,800 for a standard SIA, in cash or in kind, and cash only for a reduced-capital SIA. When that account opens depends on the bank or payment institution.
Filing with the Register of Enterprises
Online in registrs.ur.gov.lv, or by post with notarised signatures. The state fee is EUR 75. The Register publishes 1-3 working days for one founder and 3 working days for two or more founders; with two or more founders, a fee of EUR 225 brings that down to 1 working day. It registers the company once the fee has reached the Treasury account.
VAT decision by the VID
The VID decides within 5 working days of receiving the VAT application. If it asks for information on the company's material, technical and financial capacity to carry out the declared activity, it decides within 5 working days of receiving that information. The VAT number has no fixed day: it depends on whether the VID asks.
Frequently asked questions
No. Founders and shareholders of an SIA can be non-residents. For your own taxes, Latvian law treats you as tax resident if your declared place of residence is in Latvia, or if you spend at least 183 days there in any 12-month period. If you mainly live in another country, that country will usually treat you as resident too. The tax treaty between the two countries, where one exists, then decides: first on where your permanent home is, then on where your personal and economic ties are closest.
SIA stands for "Sabiedriba ar ierobezotu atbildibu", the Latvian limited liability company, close to an LLC or a Ltd. A standard SIA needs at least EUR 2,800 of share capital; a reduced-capital SIA can have less if it meets all its conditions. It pays 0% corporate income tax on retained profit and 20% on distributed profit, and it can register for VAT in Latvia.
Not for the registration itself. With a Latvian secure e-signature (eID card, eParaksts card or eParaksts Mobile), you sign and the application is filed online. Without one, a notary certifies your signatures and the documents are posted to the Register. A notarial act done abroad is a public document issued abroad, so it needs an apostille and a notarised translation into Latvian. Opening the capital account follows the rules of the bank or payment institution you apply to.
EUR 2,800 for a standard SIA, paid in full before the registration application is filed, into a payment account in the name of the company being founded. It stays company money afterwards. A reduced-capital SIA can have less, if it has 1 to 5 founders and members, all natural persons, every board member is a member, and each member holds only one such company. Its capital is paid in cash, at least 25% of each year's profit goes to a reserve before any dividend, and if a condition stops being met the capital must reach EUR 2,800 within 3 months. If it becomes insolvent, its members are jointly liable up to the gap between EUR 2,800 and the capital paid. The law sets the minimum nominal value of a share at 1 cent.
The VID decides within 5 working days of receiving the VAT application, which can be filed with the Register together with the company application. If the VID asks for information on the company's material, technical and financial capacity, it decides within 5 working days of receiving that information. So there is no fixed day for the VAT number. We prepare the description of the activity and the supporting documents with you before filing.
The Register publishes 1-3 working days for an SIA with one founder and 3 working days with two or more founders, who can pay a state fee of EUR 225 instead of EUR 75 for 1 working day. Before filing, the documents have to be signed and the capital paid. That part depends on your route (online with a Latvian e-signature, or through a notary, an apostille and a translation) and on how long the bank or payment institution takes to open the capital account. At the first call we lay out the steps for your case, with the official times and the parts nobody can date in advance.
For the paperwork, yes: with a Latvian secure e-signature, documents are signed and filed online, and you don't need to be in Latvia every day. Where the company's decisions are taken still matters for tax, as the next answer explains.
You do not need to live in Latvia. Your SIA is based there. To keep the Latvian corporate tax regime, its key decisions must really be taken in Latvia: a company run day to day from your country of residence can become tax resident there. An initial trip of a few days may be required for certain banking formalities.
The state fee is EUR 75 for a standard SIA, EUR 225 for processing in 1 working day with two or more founders, and EUR 20 for a reduced-capital SIA. The share capital, EUR 2,800 for a standard SIA, is not a cost: it stays in the company's account. Notary, apostille and translation costs depend on your country and provider. Our own fees depend on the package you choose; book a free call for a quote based on your case.
The SIA is the Latvian form of limited liability company, so the real comparison is with a US LLC. A US LLC is a US entity. An SIA is a Latvian company in the EU, taxed in Latvia at 0% on retained profit and 20% on distributed profit, and it can register for VAT there. Its capital is EUR 2,800 for a standard SIA, or less for a reduced-capital SIA that meets the conditions above. Our page on the European equivalent of a US LLC compares the two in detail.
Yes. Once the SIA is registered, your clients can work with it and it invoices them from its own account. Contracts signed by you or by another company do not move to the SIA by themselves: agree with each client how to switch them. Banks, e-money institutions and payment providers run their own onboarding checks on the new company, so neither their acceptance nor their timing can be promised.
Before a notary, who certifies your signatures; the documents are then posted to the Register, with the state fee paid beforehand and the proof of payment in the envelope. If someone signs for you, the power of attorney must itself be notarised. Documents issued abroad by a public authority or a notary need an apostille and a notarised translation into Latvian, and private documents in a foreign language need a certified translation. What the notary, the apostille and the translation cost depends on your country and provider.
Yes, in a standard SIA with at least EUR 2,800 of capital. A reduced-capital SIA cannot have a legal person as a member. Your company's register extract is a public document issued abroad: it needs an apostille and a notarised translation into Latvian. The people who ultimately own or control your company are declared as beneficial owners in the registration application.
Into a payment account opened in the name of the company being founded, before the registration application is filed. The bank or payment institution decides for itself whether to open that account, after its own checks. We prepare the documents it usually asks for, but we cannot promise its answer or its timing. For cash contributions up to EUR 50,000, the founders confirm in the application that the account was opened and the capital paid; above that, a certificate from the payment service provider is required. A contribution in kind must be valued.
Check each figure at the official source
The fees, times and rules on this page come from these pages, read on 7 November 2026.
- Register of Enterprises: limited liability company
- Register of Enterprises: submission of applications and fees
- Register of Enterprises: compare business types
- Commercial Law (Komerclikums), art. 9, 146 to 151, 185, 185.1 and 186
- Cabinet Regulation No. 583 of 24/08/2021 on the Register's state fees, annex II
- VAT Law (Pievienotas vertibas nodokla likums), art. 66
- Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism and Proliferation Financing, art. 18.2
- State Revenue Service (VID): corporate income tax
- State Revenue Service (VID): value added tax
- State Revenue Service (VID): microenterprise tax
- Ministry of Finance: changes in taxation and finances in 2026
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