Financial Services, Latvia, Taxation, Wages

So far VID had to prove that wages paid in companies are insubstantially low and there are suspicions about unreported wages, but in case the above-mentioned amendments are adopted, employers will have to prove how they are able to employ qualified workers for low wages, said Jaunzeme.

She said that the amendments will significantly ease VID's work in fighting unreported wages.

"If VID data suggest that the average wage in the sector is higher than the wage paid in a certain company, the employer will have to submit a proof how people can be employed for significantly lower wages," said Jaunzeme.

VID representative Natalija Filipovica said in a press conference that the recent downtime benefits revealed a number of problems in relation to shadow economy.

For example, employees learned that they had received illegal wages for about a year. There had been cases when employees received lower downtime benefits than hoped because part of the wage had been paid illegally. There had also been cases when employers demanded employees to share their downtime benefits.