How to claim a withholding tax refund from the Latvian State Revenue Service (VID).

If you missed the deadline to submit the documents needed to reduce withholding tax from 25.5% to 10% in Latvia, you may still have the opportunity to claim a refund for overpaid tax from the Latvian State Revenue Service (VID). This could allow you to recover a portion of the tax deducted from the interest earned with one of our Latvian partner banks.
Please note: Raisin Bank cannot provide tax advice, we strongly recommend you speak to a tax advisor if you have any queries.

To be eligible for a withholding tax refund, you must meet the following conditions:

1. The income for which withholding tax was deducted must have been earned in the last 3 years.
2. Your tax residence country needs to have a double tax treaty with Latvia. Ireland has such an agreement in place with Latvia.
3. The withholding tax rate applied to all or some of your income must be higher than the withholding tax rate set by the double tax treaty (this is 10% for Irish tax residents).
   
   To see if you can receive a refund for a particular year, check how much interest you received from your savings account with our partner banks via raisin.ie and also how much tax was withheld in Latvia. If the rate of tax withheld is higher than 10%, you’re eligible for a withholding tax refund. The refund is equal to the difference between tax withheld at a higher rate and the rate set in the double tax treaty.
   
   
   Downloading and filling out the application:
   To claim your refund, you need to submit a to the Latvian State Revenue Service (Valsts ieņēmumu dienests – VID). The form can be downloaded from this webpage (the 2nd form listed) . Before you submit your application, please carefully assess whether the refund amount can offset any associated costs as well as the time required to complete the application, it is advised to discuss this with a tax advisor.
   
   

   Introduction:
   Write your tax residence country in the box above the title of the document as well as in the box below the title of the document (screenshots of how to fill out the relevant sections are below).
   

I. Recipient of Payment:
Fill out your first and last name, your PPS number, your home address, your bank details (IBAN and BIC/SWIFT code), and your contact details (at least your email address).

II. Payer of Income:
Fill out the details of the partner bank with which you held your savings account. 



III. Income:
To fill out this section, you will need to know how much interest you earned, how much tax was withheld and how much interest you actually received after the tax was withheld.

Fill out the following information about your income from the selected Note issuer:

• Date of payment- Date you received the interest payment
• Type of income - Deposit interest
• Amount of tax and rate of tax paid in Latvia
• Amount of tax and rate under the Tax Agreement
  Write the withholding tax calculated by multiplying the tax rate stated in the 10% (as per Ireland/Latvia tax treaty) by the amount in the Amount column, rounded to two decimals, and the tax rate stated in the double tax treaty.
• Amount of tax to be refunded- Subtract the amount in the Amount of tax and rate under the Tax Agreement column from the Amount of tax and rate of tax paid in Latvia column and sum up all rows under Total.

IV. Statement of Recipient
Enter your country of tax residence (Ireland). Sign the document with a physical signature, write the place and date of signature, your full name and sign the document. 

V. Statement of the Competent Authority of the other Contracting State:
This section needs to be filled by Irish Revenue. Revenue needs to fill in your country of tax residence (Ireland). Revenue needs to sign and write the place and date of signature, the position and full name of the signee and sign and stamp the document.

Alternatively, if your local Revenue office will not sign the document, you can request a tax residency certificate using the ‘My account’ function with Revenue.ie. The cert must meet the following requirements:

• It must contain your full name and PPS number.
• It must confirm your tax residence for the given year
• It should specify that it applies to income generated in Latvia
• It must be written in English or translated to Latvian
  
  Signing and submitting the document:
  The Latvian State Revenue Service will accept physical signatures and stamps in most cases. The filled out application(s) must be mailed to the following address:
  
  

  Valsts Ienemumu Dienests
  Talejas iela 1
  Riga LV-1978
  Latvia
  
  

  Receiving the refund:
  The Latvian State Revenue Service has 30 days to review your request. In case additional information is required to proceed, you will be contacted using the contact details you provided in the form. Once your application is approved, your tax refund will be sent to your bank account.