SRS Penalties and Late Interest in Latvia 2026 — What You Need to Know
Overdue tax payments create two additional financial obligations: late payment interest (accrues daily) and penalties (a fixed amount by length of delay, or a percentage of the undeclared tax).
Late Payment Interest — 0.05% per Day (max. 40% of principal)
For each overdue day, SRS charges 0.05% per day of the overdue tax amount (approximately 18.25% per year). Interest starts the day after the payment deadline and stops on the day of full payment.
40% cap (LNN art. 29 s.7): Late payment interest calculation stops when the total interest reaches 2/5 (40%) of the principal debt. At 0.05%/day this cap is reached after exactly 800 days.
- 1 day overdue on €1,000 = €0.50 interest
- 30 days overdue on €1,000 = €15.00 interest
- 365 days overdue on €1,000 = €182.50 interest
- 800 days overdue on €1,000 = €400.00 interest (cap reached — no further accrual)
Penalties — Three Scenarios
1. Late payment (no declaration violation): Only late interest — if the return was filed on time and the amount was correct, but not paid.
2. Late return filing (Law on Taxes and Duties, Article 141): a fixed penalty by length of delay (one penalty unit is €5): 3–10 days — a warning or €25–70; 11–20 days — €75–150; 21–30 days — €155–280; more than 30 days or not filed — €285–700. No fine is imposed if a monthly or quarterly EDS return was late only once, by up to 5 days, within 12 months.
3. Undeclared tax found in an audit (Article 32): penalty of 20% of the undeclared tax (shortfall up to 15% of the amount that should have been declared) or 30% (more than 15%); it is halved if the violation is not a repeat, deadlines were met and the taxpayer cooperates. In serious cases the penalty is 100%.
Voluntary Correction — No Penalty Before the Audit Notice
If you file a corrected return and pay before SRS has issued a notice of a tax audit or control, no penalty is imposed — you pay only the tax and late interest (Article 33², part 1). After the notice but before the audit starts, the penalty is 5% of the reduced tax amount (part 2). Act immediately — don't wait for SRS.