12.07.2015 Views

Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USA - Sorainen

Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USA - Sorainen

Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USA - Sorainen

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

<strong>Employee</strong> <strong>Share</strong> <strong>Plans</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>USA</strong>Republic of Latvia4.3 Tax withhold<strong>in</strong>gsubject to <strong>in</strong>come tax at a rate of (generally) 24.09% (which is part of atotal rate of 33.09% which is allocated between <strong>the</strong> employer (24.09%)<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> employee (9%)) for <strong>the</strong> 2010 tax year. There is no cap on <strong>the</strong>amount of an employee's earn<strong>in</strong>gs that are subject to employer socialsecurity contributions.If <strong>the</strong> cost of a share plan is borne by <strong>the</strong> Latvian employer, it must withhold any<strong>in</strong>come tax <strong>and</strong> employee social security contributions due. 45. Taxation of share options5.1 <strong>Employee</strong> tax <strong>and</strong> social security contributions5.1.1 Grant: There is no liability to tax or social security contributions on <strong>the</strong>grant of a share option.5.1.2 Exercise: There is an <strong>in</strong>come tax charge on <strong>the</strong> exercise of a shareoption on <strong>the</strong> difference between <strong>the</strong> market value of <strong>the</strong> shares at <strong>the</strong>date of exercise <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> option exercise price. For <strong>the</strong> 2010 tax year,<strong>the</strong> personal <strong>in</strong>come tax rate for Latvian residents is 26%.5.1.3 Social security contributions: An employee will only be subject tosocial security contributions if <strong>the</strong> cost of <strong>the</strong> share plan is borne by <strong>the</strong>employer (e.g. if a recharge payment is made to <strong>the</strong> parent company) ata rate of (generally) 9% for <strong>the</strong> 2010 tax year. There is no cap on <strong>the</strong>amount of an employee's earn<strong>in</strong>gs that are subject to employee socialsecurity contributions.5.2 Employer tax <strong>and</strong> social security contributions5.2.1 Corporation tax deduction: It is unlikely that a corporation taxdeduction will be available for a Latvian company for any costs which itbears <strong>in</strong> relation to an employee share plan.5.2.2 Social security contributions: Employer social security contributionsarise on <strong>the</strong> exercise of an option <strong>in</strong> circumstances where an employeeis subject to social security contributions. For <strong>the</strong> 2010 tax year <strong>the</strong> rateof employer's social security contributions is (generally) 24.09%. There4Where <strong>the</strong> withhold<strong>in</strong>g obligations for <strong>the</strong> local entity do not apply (e.g. because no recharge is made to<strong>the</strong> local entity), <strong>the</strong> benefits derived from <strong>the</strong> share acquisition must be reported by <strong>the</strong> employee to<strong>the</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ancial authorities on <strong>the</strong> employee's annual Latvian tax return.UK/1729295/03 127 September 2010

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!