Many people assume that setting up a company in Latvia is complicated, expensive, and next to impossible without a lawyer.
In reality, many entrepreneurs are surprised by how straightforward the process can be.
If your project is fairly straightforward and you’re willing to spend some time learning the procedure, you can handle many steps of the registration process yourself.
This guide covers how entrepreneurs typically reduce their initial costs, which choices genuinely save money, and where cutting corners isn’t worth it.
Choose the Right Company Structure
Most first-time founders assume that registering a Latvian company requires contributing €2,800 in share capital right away.
In fact, there’s another option.
Latvian law allows for a SIA with reduced share capital (Mazkapitāla SIA).
It’s not the right fit for everyone, but for many small projects it’s a convenient and entirely legitimate option.
The main conditions:
- share capital of €1 to €2,799;
- no more than five shareholders;
- shareholders must be private individuals;
- board members must be drawn from among the shareholders.
If your project meets these conditions, this route can significantly reduce your initial costs.
A practical point:
Although the law permits registering a company with just €1 in capital, many founders choose to put in €100–500 instead. It doesn’t affect the company’s legal status, but it tends to look more credible to banks and financial institutions.
Use Digital Signing Where Possible
The state registration fee itself is modest – from €20 for electronic filing. The costs that tend to add up are the ones around it, notary fees above all.
If you hold a qualified electronic signature recognised in Latvia, registration can often be completed entirely online. This lets you skip:
- notarising your signatures;
- mailing paper documents back and forth;
- a chunk of the paperwork costs – the paper route, with a notary involved, can add €100 or more.
Without an electronic signature, registration is still possible – it just takes a little longer and may cost a bit more.
Avoid Paying for Services You Don’t Need
Not every registration needs full legal support.
If the company structure is standard, all shareholders are private individuals, and there’s nothing unusual in the documents, many founders manage registration on their own without issue.
Things get considerably more complicated once you’re dealing with:
- foreign shareholders;
- corporate entities among the owners;
- documents signed in different countries;
- a holding structure;
- non-standard corporate arrangements.
In these cases, professional advice at the registration stage often prevents mistakes that are considerably more expensive to fix later.
Arrange a Registered Office
Every Latvian company must have a registered office. This service typically starts at €300 a year – when choosing a provider, look beyond the price to whether it includes receiving, scanning, and promptly forwarding official correspondence: a missed letter from a state authority can cost you far more than the difference between providers.
Separately, every company must have an official electronic address on the Latvija.gov.lv portal – a mandatory channel for communication with state authorities. It doesn’t replace the registered office; it exists alongside it.
If you live in Latvia yourself, your own flat can serve as the registered office, which does away with the cost of a virtual one. Some of the costs of maintaining it can sometimes be treated as company expenses.
Keep Ongoing Costs Under Control
Once the company is registered, bookkeeping and compliance with the State Revenue Service (VID) become the main ongoing obligation. Hiring an in-house accountant from day one rarely makes financial sense.
Most small companies outsource their accounting and pay from €100 a month for a basic volume of transactions. One practical point is often overlooked: at that price, you’re on a standard package, and the accountant is unlikely to have much personal time to spare for your company – fine for getting started, but not advisory support.
As the business grows, moving up to a higher level of service is always an option.
Instead of a Conclusion
Registering a company in Latvia on your own is entirely realistic for many standard projects.
This guide is intended to help you understand the process and make informed decisions from the very beginning.
If, at any stage, your project turns out to be more complex than expected or raises questions that fall outside the scope of this guide, the team at BBCRiga will be happy to help.
