Lithuania’s richest man’s taxes may go to UK

Numavičius, who is the majority shareholder of Vilniaus Prekyba Group and owns, among other things, Lithuania’s biggest supermarket chain Maxima, has been a resident of the UK since July 2015. His income for the second half of 2015 will be subject to the Lithuanian-British double taxation treaty of 2002.

“Bearing in mind that, since July 2015, Numavičius’ only family home has been in Great Britain where he permanently resides, he is considered a tax payer of Great Britain. So for this period, Numavičius is a tax payer in both countries,” the businessman’s lawyer Olga Petroševičienė has told 15min.lt.

The treaty between Lithuania and the United Kingdom is intended to avoid double taxation.

Companies of Vilniaus Prekyba Group conduct most of their business in Lithuania. However, the Maxima supermarket chain and Akropolis shopping malls are owned by holdings registered in Luxembourg, Malta and other countries.

“I think things won’t change in this case. Taxes on the dividends from the holding companies will be paid in other countries, while Lithuania will receive certificates that taxes have been paid. Even though the main part of the business is conducted here,” Danguolė Pranckėnienė, vice-president of the Lithuanian Association of Accountants and Auditors, told 15min.lt.

She added that the country should fight harder to have taxes on profits made in Lithuania paid here.