Estonia, Financial Services, Taxation

"The provision of the Accounting Act obliging businesses to file their annual reports in Estonian remains in force and there is no plan to change it," Kurmet Ojamaa, departmental head at the Ministry of Finance, told when asked whether the requirement to file accounts in Estonian may discourage English-speaking business owners from becoming e-residents of Estonia.

Ojamaa said that at the initiative of the ministries of finance and justice, RIK has begun a development to make it easier for micro enterprises to file their accounts.

"Since the report of a micro undertaking contains no free text, the report can be conveniently converted into an English or Estonian format. Only the signed report in Estonian language will be submitted to the register," the official said.

He added that according to current plans this possibility will become available to micro undertakings from Jan. 1, 2017.

The amended Accounting Act that took effect at the beginning of this year significantly eased requirements concerning the annual accounts filed by the owners of micro undertakings, obliging them to submit just two main statements: a brief balance sheet with the mandatory fields filled out and an income statement.