Latvian State Chancellery reports that with assistance with ministries it has compiled information about legislative changes that will have a major impact for residents and certain groups of residents next year.
Starting with the 1st of January 2023 the minimal wage in Latvia will increase from the current EUR 500 to EUR 620. Wages paid to pre-school teachers will increase as well. This will help reduce the pay gap between kindergarten and general education institution teachers.
From 2023 onward the parent benefit for employed parents will be increased. If recipients of parent benefits continue working and are not on a childcare leave, these people will be paid part of the calculated benefit amount. Currently it is 30% – from the 1st of January 2023 it will be 50%.
Personal Income Tax (PIT) will remain unchanged in 2023. This means that recipients of royalties who are paid said royalties by the income payer that is not a collective management organisation have until the 31st of December 2023 to register as an enterprise. PIT and state social insurance contributions will be paid for them by their income payer. For income under EUR 25 000 the PIT rate will be 25%, whereas for income that exceeds EUR 25 000 PIT will be 40%.
Changes will affect seniors ass well, as the retirement age is planned to go up starting next year.
Persons who have reached the age of 64 years and six months will be able to retire and receive state pension if their employment history is not shorter than 15 years. For persons whose employment history is no shorter than 30 years will have the right to retire early – two years before reaching required retirement age. In 2023 persons who reached the age of 62 years and six months will be able to retire early.
From the 1st of May 2023 the eID card will be mandatory for every Latvian citizen and non-citizen who has reached the age of 15 years. Passport will remain a personal identification document of choice or travel document to countries in which eID cards are recognised as valid personal or travel documents. Starting with 2023 changes will be applied to personal ID in the digital environment.
As of the 1st of January all legal persons are obligated to create and use an official e-mail to communicate with state and municipal institutions.
As of the 1st of February all e-service providers will be obligated to accept eID cards or e-Paraksts mobile to confirm e-service requests. This will allow residents to rely on a single, secure and accessible solution to confirm identity in the digital environment.
The coming into force of a new Law on Municipalities means that as of the 1st of January 2023 youngsters in Latvia that have reached the age of 16 years will be able to submit collective applications to Latvian local administrations, work in resident councils, participate in budget project idea selection processes. At the same time, it will be the autonomous function of local government to work with youth. This is intended to improve the involvement of residents, especially youngsters, in the work done by local administrations, as well as improve overall transparency.