ANSWER: According to the Law “On Personal Income Tax”, any person (unemployed, pensioner, or student) may be a seasonal agricultural worker if they earn income from April 1 to November 30 from seasonal work in sowing or planting fruit trees, berry bushes and vegetables, caring for crops and plantations, harvesting, sorting fruits, berries and vegetables (hereinafter – seasonal agricultural work). It should be noted that driving tractor equipment is not considered seasonal agricultural work for the purposes of this tax.

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In order for seasonal agricultural workers' income tax to be applied to the income earned by an employee (seasonal agricultural worker), the employer must, in addition to the conditions already mentioned, also meet the following criteria:

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1) An employer (farmer) within the meaning of this Law is an income disburser who uses agricultural land in his/her ownership, permanent use or lease for the cultivation of fruit trees, berry trees or vegetables and has applied for a single area payment in the current year in accordance with the regulatory enactments on the procedure for granting state and European Union support to agriculture within the framework of direct support schemes;

2) An employee (seasonal agricultural worker) is employed in seasonal agricultural work during the tax year from April 1 to November 30;

3) An employee (seasonal agricultural worker) is employed in seasonal agricultural work for no more than 65 calendar days with one or more employers (farmers);

4) The income of an employee (seasonal agricultural worker) earned from one or more employers (farmers) in total does not exceed 3,000 euros;

5) The employee (seasonal agricultural worker) has not had an employment relationship with the employer (farmer) or has not concluded an enterprise agreement with the same employer (farmer) for the four-month period prior to the commencement of work in the agricultural season.

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If an employer (farmer) employs an unemployed person or a pensioner who receives an early pension as a seasonal agricultural worker, it should be taken into account that the seasonal worker is socially insured if his monthly income exceeds 70 eurosThis means that if an unemployed person or a pensioner receiving an early pension does not earn more than 70 euros per month as a seasonal agricultural worker, euros, then he will have the right to receive unemployment benefit or old-age pension early. Because in such a case the said employee will not be considered a socially insured person. However, if the monthly income of an unemployed person or a pensioner who receives a state pension early exceeds 70 euros, then the person will not be able to receive social insurance system services this month. In such a case, the pensioner will be entitled to receive the benefit later, if the employment does not exceed two months. It should be noted that in such a case, the unemployed person is obliged to report to the State Employment Agency within three working days that the status of an employee has been acquired for a period of up to two months (in accordance with the Law on Support for the Unemployed and Jobseekers).

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A pensioner who receives an early pension does not have to report the commencement of an employment relationship to any institution.

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Pensioners receiving a state pension or students are not affected by this tax regime. However, it should be noted that when employing a student, the employer (farmer) must take into account that the employment of children and adolescents in seasonal work is permissible, strictly observing the requirements of the Labor Law and other regulatory enactments of the Republic of Latvia. This means that it is mandatory to conclude an employment contract with students. You can find out more about the requirements for the employment of children and adolescents here: http://www.lm.gov.lv/text/1890It is important that one of the student's parents has the right to retain the benefit for a seasonal agricultural worker under their care who is under the age of 18 and receives seasonal agricultural worker income.

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The employer (farmer) must register the seasonal agricultural worker in the Rural Support Service information system every day, indicating the agricultural worker's first name, last name, personal identification number, date of income generation and the form of the concluded contract (written employment contract or written or oral company contract). The employer (farmer) must register the calculated remuneration of the employee (agricultural worker) in this system every day of employment.

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On the day after the last day of the month of income generation, the data entered by the farmer will be compiled in the RSS information system and the distribution of seasonal agricultural workers' income tax by budget will be calculated, and for each registered seasonal agricultural worker, a calculation of the distribution of seasonal agricultural workers' income tax will be provided for each farmer who has employed a seasonal agricultural worker in the month of income generation. The employer (farmer) must confirm the information compiled in the RSS information system and submit it to the State Revenue Service within five working days. In addition to this report, the employer does not have to submit other reports on seasonal agricultural workers.

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The seasonal agricultural workers' income tax rate is 15 percent, but not less than 0.70 euros for each day of employment. The seasonal agricultural workers' income tax is transferred to the budget in the following distribution:

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1) if the total amount of income that a seasonal agricultural worker (employee) has obtained in a calendar month from one or more seasonal agricultural worker income payers in total does not exceed 70 euros, the employer (farmer) shall transfer the seasonal agricultural worker income tax to the personal income tax distribution account;

2) if the total amount of income that a seasonal agricultural worker (employee) has obtained from one or more seasonal agricultural worker income payers in a calendar month exceeds 70 euros, the employer (farmer) shall transfer the seasonal agricultural worker income tax to the budget in the following distribution:

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a) 90 percent - to the state social insurance mandatory contribution account,

b) 10 percent — to the personal income tax distribution account.

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In addition to this tax, the employer does not have to pay any other taxes.

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SOURCE: Ministry of Agriculture