The Farmers' Assembly calls on municipalities to postpone and reduce the property tax on agricultural land

In response to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, on April 27 The association "Farmers' Council" sent a letter to all Latvian municipalities calling on them to postpone and consider the possibility of reducing the real estate tax (RRT) on agricultural land, as well as not to apply late fees for late RRT payments in 2020.

The Law "On Real Estate Tax" provides that municipalities may determine reliefs of 90, 70, 50 or 25 percent of the real estate tax amount for certain categories of real estate tax payers.

In turn, the law "On Measures to Prevent and Manage the Threat to the State and Its Consequences Due to the Spread of Covid-19", adopted on March 20, stipulates that taxpayers in sectors affected by the crisis have the right to apply for an extension of the tax payment deadline, as well as request an extension of the tax payment deadline if the delay is due to Covid-19.

Juris Lazdins, Chairman of the Association "Farmers' Council": "Due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, Latvian farmers must maintain not only their competitiveness in the market, but also their long-term viability. Therefore, any support for farmers is very important, and for some it may even be decisive in overcoming this crisis situation. Considering that agricultural companies are among the largest payers of NIS taxes and providers of jobs in rural areas, we call on local governments to take a step towards farmers and apply the relief provided for by law." We appreciate those municipalities that have already postponed the real estate tax payment deadline and applied real estate tax discounts for agricultural land.”