Register a company in Latvia, the other zero-until-you-distribute.

Yes. With EU e-signatures or an apostilled power of attorney the founding, register filing and tax registrations all run remotely. Banking depends on the institution: EMIs onboard by video, while Latvian banks often want to meet the people behind real substance. We route you by profile.

Turnkey registration starts from €1,800 including register fees and the first year of the registered address. With an account arranged, packages start from €3,200. Renewal with basic accounting runs from €1,400 a year.

Corporate tax applies only when profits leave the company: retained and reinvested earnings carry 0%, distributions carry 20% computed on the 20/80 basis (about 25% of the net amount), and for most shareholders that is the final Latvian tax. Deemed-distribution rules catch disguised payouts such as loans to owners and non-business spending, so the structure must be run cleanly. We run it cleanly.

The same model, two prices and two ecosystems. Estonia charges 22/78 since 2025 and offers e-Residency plus the world's smoothest e-state. Latvia holds 20/80, cheaper on every distribution, with a more traditional administration. Heavy distributors save real money in Riga; remote-first founders who prize the e-state pick Tallinn. We recommend per case, and we operate in both.

A reduced-capital SIA for individual founders: start from €1, with a profit-reserve obligation until capital reaches the standard €2,800. Same limited liability, same tax model. It opens the door cheaply; most growing businesses top up to full capital within a year or two.

Straight answer: until 2018 Riga was the region's non-resident banking hub. The ABLV collapse and the sector cleanup ended that era permanently. Today's banks (Swedbank, SEB, Citadele) are conservative, euro-native and substance-first. A company with real Baltic operations banks well; a shell does not, and we say which one you are before any application goes in.

Two tracks. EMIs and fintechs open EUR accounts in days and cover most operating needs. Latvian banks follow where there is substance: local clients, staff, a real office, flows that make sense. Our standard route is EMI first so the company can work, with bank onboarding in parallel where the case genuinely supports it.

Baltic-reasonable: skilled salaries well below Western Europe, employer contributions around 23.6%, personal income tax at 25.5% rising to 33% on high incomes. Riga's talent pool covers IT, logistics and multilingual support. Payroll runs monthly through our accountants.

Quietly, yes: 0% while participations sit and compound, participation rules on qualifying stakes, and no second withholding layer after distribution. It lacks Estonia's brand and the Netherlands' treaty web, but for Baltic-centred groups the arithmetic is clean. We compare against both.

The register works in days: plan 2-5 business days from complete documents to a registered SIA, plus a few days for VAT where needed. An EMI account can be live within the week; Latvian bank onboarding takes one to three weeks where substance supports it. The feasibility check comes first. It costs nothing and saves everything.