Latvia discusses lifting PIT from employers’ paid childbirth benefits

The benefit paid to employees in the event of childbirth in the family is planned to lose PIT application. This is provided by the amendments to the Personal Income Tax Law approved by Saeima’s Budget and Finance Committee on 10 May for the final reading in the parliament.
Amendments state that PIT will not be applied to the childbirth benefit amount under EUR 250 paid by the employer. The benefit is paid within six months of the child’s birth date, BNN was told by Saeima’s press-service.

The current legal framework requires PIT to be collected from the benefit paid by employers to their employees if a child is born in their family.

The proposed measure is planned to be applied to benefits paid for children born starting 1 January 2022.
The budget committee’s approved amendments to the Personal Income Tax Law also provide for extending the farm workers’ income tax regime to people who are hired to collect rocks from agricultural, planting and grassland areas. The tax rate of seasonal farm workers is 15%. This rate was set to reduce the grey economy and illegal employment in seasonal jobs, as well as to lift the administrative burden for employers, considering the uneven seasonal employment.
Amendments also propose increasing the number of days during which it will be permitted to apply the seasonal farm workers income tax regime from 1 April until 30 November from 65 to 90 days.
The Saeima will now need to review proposed amendments in the second and final reading.