EUR 7 million collected this year through curbing shadow economy and improving tax administration - Finance Ministry

RIGA - The Finance Ministry told LETA that in the first seven months of this year, EUR 7 million were collected due to measures to curb the shadow economy and improve tax administration, citing information provided by the State Revenue Service (VID).

According to the ministry, the planned revenue for 2025 from the measures to curb the shadow economy and improve tax administration is EUR 6.7 million, while almost EUR 7 million, or 103 percent of the planned revenue, has been collected in seven months.

The Finance Ministry also informed that from January 1, 2025, a restriction has been introduced that the fuel tank of commercial vehicles entering Latvia from third countries may contain no more than 200 liters of fuel. Previously, on average, around 1,200 liters per tank were imported. In seven months, more than 13,000 trucks entered Latvia and the restrictions prevented the import of more than 13 million liters of duty-free fuel into the European Union (EU), providing additional excise duty revenue for the domestic market.

The ministry informed that other measures to curb the shadow economy are also being pursued: cashless payment has been established as the primary form of wage payment, and the VID analytical tool for data-driven decision-making has been developed, thus facilitating the identification and prevention of cases of the shadow economy.