Company Formation in Latvia: SIA Registration Step by Step

What an SIA Is and Which Latvian Legal Form to Choose

Company registration in Latvia goes through one authority, the Register of Enterprises (Uzņēmumu reģistrs), Latvia’s company register, which keeps the Commercial Register and assigns each company its registration number. For a foreign founder, company formation in Latvia nearly always means registering an SIA, short for sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību, a limited liability company. The Register describes it as a closed company whose shares (daļas) are not offered to the public, a legal person whose founders may be individuals or companies. In English it is usually called a private limited company, comparable to a UK Ltd.

Form	Who can own it	Statutory capital	Usual fit
SIA	Individuals or companies of any nationality	Equity capital of at least EUR 2,800, paid before the application	Trading companies, holding companies, subsidiaries of foreign groups
Small-capital SIA	One to five individuals; only shareholders may sit on the board	Equity capital below EUR 2,800, paid in money	An individual founder or a small team starting with little capital
AS (akciju sabiedrība)	Individuals or companies	At least EUR 25,000	Larger companies and those planning to raise capital

The Small-Capital SIA: the Conditions Behind the Low Capital

Section 185.1 of the Commercial Law (Komerclikums) lets an SIA start with equity capital below EUR 2,800; the only floor left is that a share must have a nominal value of at least one cent. The conditions must hold for as long as the capital stays low:

• the founders and the shareholders are natural persons, no more than five of each;
• every member of the board is also a shareholder;
• each shareholder holds shares in only one company of this kind.

At least 25% of each year’s profit goes into a mandatory reserve, and such a company may not pay extraordinary dividends. If it stops meeting a condition, for example because a company becomes a shareholder or an outside manager joins the board, the capital must reach EUR 2,800 within three months, and in insolvency the shareholders answer jointly for its debts up to the difference between EUR 2,800 and the capital paid. For a foreign group or anyone wanting an outside director, the standard SIA is the workable choice.

Requirements for SIA Registration in Latvia

Requirement	What Latvian law and the Register ask
Founders	Individuals or companies, with no residency or nationality condition. One founder signs a founding decision; two or more sign a memorandum of association.
Board (valde)	One or more natural persons with capacity to act, with no residency condition. Each gives written consent naming the company and stating any legal obstacle to holding office or confirming there is none.
Name	Contains “SIA” or the full words at the beginning or end, uses Latvian or Latin letters and differs from registered names and trademarks.
Legal address	A building or premises in Latvia listed in the National Address Register. The board gives its cadastral designation and confirms that the company can be reached there and has a legal basis to be there.
Equity capital	Paid in full before the application, in cash into a payment account opened in the name of the company being founded, or in kind after a valuation.
Beneficial owners	Every individual holding more than 25% of the shares or votes, directly or indirectly, or otherwise in control, is named in the application.
Language	Documents are drawn up in Latvian.

The capital rule changed on 16 July 2025. A statement from the payment service provider is now needed only where cash contributions to the capital exceed EUR 50,000; below that the founders certify in application form KR4 that the account was opened and the capital paid into it. The account itself remains compulsory.

Registering an SIA From Abroad Without a Latvian eID

Three documents need notarised signatures: the KR4 application, the first division of the register of shareholders and each board member’s consent. Section 9 of the Commercial Law treats a secure electronic signature as meeting that requirement, so founders who can sign electronically file online at registrs.ur.gov.lv. Latvian eID, eParaksts and eParaksts Mobile work, and the Register accepts a qualified signature from a trust service provider registered in another EU country, with a qualified time stamp. Every signatory needs one; a single person without it sends the whole file to paper.

On the paper route each signature is certified by a notary. A signature certified abroad is a public document: it needs an apostille if the country is a party to the Hague Convention, as the United States is, and consular legalisation if not, while certifications from the EU, the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland need neither. A notarised Latvian translation goes with it in every case, and a power of attorney for someone signing in Latvia on your behalf must itself be notarised. Latvian embassies are no general alternative: the mission in the United States limits its notarial service to people in the Latvian population register who live in its district.

If the address already hosts several registered entities, a board member sits on several boards, or a founder has set up several companies within a year, the Register passes the file to the State Revenue Service (VID) and extends its decision period by 10 working days, or up to three months if VID asks for further checks.

How to Register an SIA in Latvia, Step by Step

Step	What happens
1. Name	Check the name in the Register’s search tool and the trademark database.
2. Founding documents	Draw up the founding decision or memorandum, stating the founders, capital, shares, payment terms and board members, and the articles of association (statūti). For one individual founder the e-service can generate them.
3. Capital	Open a payment account in the name of the company being founded and pay in the whole capital.
4. Register of shareholders	Prepare its first division, recording each shareholder and their shares as the founding document sets them out.
5. Address and owners	Confirm the legal address and identify every beneficial owner.
6. Signatures	Sign with secure e-signatures, or have each signature certified by a notary.
7. Submission	File online or post the signed documents. A VAT application can go in at the same time.
8. Entry	A state notary of the Register enters the company in the Commercial Register.

The Register states a review period of 1 to 3 business days, not counting the day of submission, which it notes can be extended. That is the Register’s own figure; drafting, signing and the capital account come first.

The Capital Account and Latvian Banks

The law asks only for a payment account with a payment service provider, not necessarily a Latvian bank, but it has to be opened for a company that does not exist yet. SEB lets a company being founded open a temporary account remotely with an e-signature, Swedbank offers a branch appointment for it and lists documents for a remote application, and Citadele offers its remote temporary account only where all founders, five at most, live in the Baltic states.

After the European Central Bank found ABLV Bank failing or likely to fail in February 2018, the Saeima barred credit, payment and e-money institutions from serving shell arrangements, and banks such as SEB now name a connection with Latvia as their main condition. Our guide to bank accounts for Latvian companies sets out what each bank asks for.

After Registration: VAT, Corporate Income Tax and Annual Reports

VAT registration with VID is a separate step. A company may stay outside VAT while its domestic supplies in a calendar year do not exceed the EUR 50,000 threshold, raised from EUR 40,000 on 1 January 2025. A company selling services to businesses in other EU countries must register whatever its turnover, as must one whose purchases of goods from other Member States reach the EUR 10,000 threshold. VID decides within five working days and may first ask about the company’s material, technical and financial capacity. The standard rate is 21%, with reduced rates of 12% and 5%.

Corporate income tax falls only on profit leaving the company. The rate is 20%, but the amount distributed is divided by 0.8 first, so a net dividend bears 25%; deemed distributions such as non-business expenses and loans to related parties are taxed the same way. Since 1 January 2026 a company whose shareholders are all individuals may apply 15% to dividends instead, dividing by 0.85, and PwC notes that 6% personal income tax is then withheld from the dividend. Monthly returns are due by the 20th and may be skipped for a month with nothing taxable, except the last month of the financial year. Dividends to foreign companies carry no withholding unless the recipient is in a low-tax or no-tax jurisdiction, where 20% applies. Latvia has 64 double tax treaties in force. An SIA cannot choose the micro-enterprise tax, which the Register lists only for individual merchants, individual enterprises, farms and self-employed individuals.

Every SIA, trading or dormant, files an annual report with VID no later than five months after the year end if it is a micro or small company, seven months if larger, and the Register publishes it. VID may terminate a company that still has not filed after being fined. Changes of beneficial owner go to the Register within 14 days.

Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia for a New Company

The Baltic company forms differ mostly in tax.

Point	Latvia (SIA)	Lithuania (UAB)	Estonia (OÜ)
Minimum capital	EUR 2,800, or less for the small-capital SIA	EUR 1,000	EUR 0.01 per shareholder
Profit tax	20% on distributed profit, 25% of the net dividend	17% on profit as it is earned, with lower rates for small companies	22% on distributed profit
VAT registration threshold	EUR 50,000	EUR 45,000	EUR 40,000

A company that reinvests its profit pays no profit tax in Latvia or Estonia until it distributes. Our pages on company formation in Lithuania and company formation in Estonia cover the other two.

When a Ready-Made SIA Is the Better Route

For founders who all hold secure e-signatures, a new SIA is usually simpler. A ready-made company makes more sense when the founders would otherwise collect notarised and apostilled signatures and open a temporary account for a company that does not exist yet, or when a counterparty or tender asks for a company registered earlier. Buying one still needs notarised or e-signed signatures on the share register entry. Our page on ready-made shelf companies in Latvia explains that transfer, and our guide to off-the-shelf companies covers the product.

What We Do for a Latvian Formation

We can register a new SIA for you or supply a ready-made one, draw up the founding or transfer documents and the filings with the Register of Enterprises and VID, and help you prepare the bank application. Where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, we can introduce you; whether the account is opened is for the bank alone to decide. Background on the country is on our Latvia page.

Frequently Asked Questions about Company Formation in Latvia

How do I register an SIA in Latvia?

Draw up a founding decision or memorandum and articles in Latvian, open a payment account in the name of the company being founded and pay in the capital, prepare the first division of the register of shareholders, and confirm the legal address and beneficial owners. Then file form KR4 with the Register of Enterprises, online with secure e-signatures or on paper with notarised signatures.

What is the minimum share capital of a Latvian SIA?

EUR 2,800 for a standard SIA, paid in full before the registration application. An SIA owned by one to five individuals, with a board drawn only from its shareholders, may have less, but it must reserve at least a quarter of each year’s profit, cannot pay extraordinary dividends and must raise its capital to EUR 2,800 within three months if a condition stops being met.

Can a foreigner register a company in Latvia?

Yes. Latvia sets no residency or nationality condition for the shareholders or board members of an SIA, and one foreign individual can be both. The company needs a legal address in Latvia. Without a secure electronic signature the founder signs before a notary, adding an apostille or legalisation and a Latvian translation where needed, and should expect the bank to ask about the company’s link to Latvia.

Is a Latvian SIA a private limited company?

Yes. SIA stands for sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību, a limited liability company: a closed company whose shares are not offered to the public, a legal person separate from its owners, whose shareholders risk only their contributions. For tax it is a Latvian company paying corporate income tax on distributions, not a pass-through entity.

Do I need a notary to set up a company in Latvia?

Not if every signatory has a secure electronic signature, which the Commercial Law treats as equal to a notarised one. Otherwise the signatures on the KR4 application, the register of shareholders division and the board consents are certified by a notary; so is any power of attorney for someone signing in your place.

When does a Latvian SIA have to register for VAT?

When its domestic supplies in a calendar year exceed EUR 50,000, the threshold since 1 January 2025, applying by the 15th of the following month. It must register whatever its turnover if it supplies services to businesses in other EU countries, and once its purchases of goods from other Member States reach the EUR 10,000 threshold. Voluntary registration, also together with the company registration, is possible.