Business Certificates or Certificates or Individual Activity Certificates

The relevant legal norms of Republic of Lithuania provide opportunities for involvement in individual activities and gaining profit. In Republic of Lithuania, a person may choose one of the alternative ways for individual activities: to acquire a Business Certificate or to acquire an Individual Activity Certificate. One of the key differences between the above-mentioned forms of individual activities is that the activity under a Business Certificate is a subject to restrictions, i.e. more strict requirements are set for choosable activities. It is notable that VAT payers are not entitled to be involved in individual activities under a Business Certificate; in addition, a person involved in the individual activity under a Business Certificate is not entitled to provide services to legal entities involved in the same activity. Moreover, it is notable that a person involved in the individual activity under a Business Certificate is entitled to provide services to legal entities for the amount not exceeding 4500 EUR per calendar year. It is also important that legal norms of Republic of Lithuania provide a definite list of activities accessible under a Business Certificate. Whereas an Individual Activity Certificate provides more opportunities for a person. This means that a person may be involved in any activities, except of those being a subject of activities of a legal entity to be established according to the procedure provided in legal norms of Republic of Lithuania.

As it was mentioned above, an individual activity under a Business Certificate may be started after an acquisition of the Business Certificate. A Business Certificate may be issued to a person after reaching the age of 18 years; in cases set by laws of Republic of Lithuania, a Business Certificate may be issued to legally capable persons less than 18 years old and to minor persons from the age of 14 years at a consent of one of their parents (foster-parents or tutors). A Business Certificate shall be issued by a territorial branch of the State Tax Inspectorate after payment of the set fee. An alien having a Residence Permit in Lithuania, a Business Certificate may be issued for a period up to one calendar year, including its renewals; in addition, the period of validity of the Business Certificate shall not be longer than the period of validity of the Residence Permit. A person wishing to acquire a Business Certificate shall submit an application of the approved form and the person’s ID to the territorial branch of the State Tax Inspectorate. If a person is a foreigner, he (she) shall submit his (her) Residence Permit in addition. It should be noted that the requirement on submitting a Residence Permit is not applicable to citizens of European Union Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Member States as well as their family members. Alternatively, an application for issue a Business Certificate may be submitted online by connection to personal space of the Tax Payer via e-system of the State Tax Inspectorate; an application for issue a Business Certificate may be submitted to the territorial branch of the State Tax Inspectorate personally or sent by a mail

If a person chooses an individual activity under an Individual Activity Certificate, he (she), as it was mentioned above, may be involved in any activities, except of those being a subject of activities of a legal entity to be established according to the procedure provided in legal norms of Republic of Lithuania. An individual activity under an Individual Activity Certificate may be started after submission of a correctly completed application of the approved form on registration of the person in the Register of Tax Payer to the territorial branch of the State Tax Inspectorate. Such an application may be submitted personally to the territorial branch of the State Tax Inspectorate or sent to by mail or completed and submitted online. If a person chooses this form of individual activity, he (she) pays no fee. However, the person shall annually provide an Income Declaration where specifies the income earned from the individual activity, the expenses related to the activities and the paid taxes. In addition, it is notable that an Individual Activity Certificate is issued for a termless period. This service is provided to physical persons that may be citizens of Lithuania or foreign states.