Two cases on duty to pay surcharge of the enterprise income tax, as well as calculation procedures thereof has been initiated
On Wednesday, June 19, two cases were initiated before the Constitutional Court according to applications of consumer crediting service providers regarding the duty to pay the surcharge of the enterprise income tax, as well as procedures for calculation thereof.
The applicants provide consumer crediting services with a fixed loan interest rate and are payers of the enterprise income tax.
The contested provisions of the Law on Enterprise Income Tax provide that the applicants are obliged to pay the surcharge of the enterprise income tax. The legislator has allegedly stipulated the surcharge in relation to excess profit seemingly gained by consumer creditors and credit institutions.
The applicants hold a view that the contested provisions restrict their fundamental right set out in Article 91 of the Constitution because equal treatment is provided for applicants and credit institutions without an objective and reasonable grounds, yet there is a different treatment towards them and other payers of the enterprise income tax. The duty to pay the surcharge of the enterprise income tax and procedures for calculation thereof allegedly infringe the property rights of the applicants under Article 105 of the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court invited the institution that has issued the contested law – the Saeima – to submit to the Constitutional Court a reply with the explanation of the actual circumstances of the case and the legal basis by 19 August 2024.
The deadline for preparing the case is 19 November 2024. The Court will decide on the procedure and date for hearing the cases once the cases are prepared.
The related Case No. 2024-13-01
The related Case No. 2024-14-01
As reported before, one more case on surcharge of the enterprise income tax has been initiated before the Constitutional Court on 26 March 2024 according to an application of a consumer crediting service provider.
Related Case No. 2024-04-01
Linked case: 2024-14-01