Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Taxation, Transport

"This is no shadow economy," Baltic Taxi representative Janis Naglis commented on the structure of his company. He said this was a legal form of entrepreneurship. The more than 150 companies belong to individual taxi drivers who use the Baltic Taxi brand, automobiles, and call center. The majority of these companies are microenterprises that were set up by taxi drivers themselves, said Naglis. The program has found out, however, that financial flows through these microenterprises' accounts are organized by an authorized representative of Baltic Taxi, mostly Ilze Palmbaha.

Thanks to the system involving multiple microenterprises, Baltic Taxi can save on social contributions. In addition, dividing the company in such a large number of smaller companies enables it not to pay VAT. According to the television, the minimum annual turnover for a company to register as a VAT payer is EUR 50,000. However, none of the Baltic Taxi microenterprises turns over that much, therefore they only have to pay the microenterprise tax of 9%.

The program also points to several coincidences that suggest the former Prime Minister Andris Skele may still be the actual beneficiary of Baltic Taxi. The Skele family was, via Liepajas Autobusu Parks company, the majority shareholder in Baltic Taxi before the insolvency process. Now the Baltic Taxi trademark belongs to Sergejs Senkans - aide to Skele when he was a member of the 10th Saeima.

According to the program, taxi company Panda Taxi has also developed a system similar to Baltic Taxi - the brand is owned by one entity and used by multiple companies, large and small.

Riga Kurzeme District Court ruled Baltijas Taksometrs company, formerly Baltic Taxi, insolvent last summer. Before that, one of the company's assets, the Baltic Taxi brand, was sold in May so the company could honor its obligations to creditors.

The Baltic Taxi brand was bought by Environment Solutions, a company that belongs to Senkans.