REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW ON THE DECLARATION OF ASSETS OF RESIDENTS
16 May 1996 – No I-1338
(As last amended on 12 October 2010 – No XI-1052)
Vilnius
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Purpose of the Law
This Law shall determine the declaration of assets belonging to residents by the right of ownership and monetary funds held by them (hereinafter referred to as the “assets”), as well as the declaration of assets (including income received) when donating to political parties or participants in political campaigns, when applying to receive State-guaranteed legal aid, to be granted cash social assistance or to receive state support for acquiring or renting housing.
Article 2. Residents Subject to the Declaration of Assets
1. The following residents shall be subject to the declaration of assets in accordance with this Law:
3) Members of the European Parliament elected for the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as “Members of the European Parliament”) and their family members;
4) candidates for Members of the European Parliament elected for the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as “candidates for Members of the European Parliament”) and their family members;
5) civil servants and their family members, bailiffs and their family members, notaries and their family members;
6) Presidents of the courts of the Republic of Lithuania, their deputies, chairmen of court divisions, judges and their family members;
14) servicemen in professional military service of the national defence system whose activities are regulated by the Law on Operational Activities, officers in professional military service and their family members;
17) heads and officials of institutions and agencies, financed from the State budget and appointed by the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas, the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister, and their family members;
18) chairmen of state (standing) commissions and councils of the Seimas, the President of the Republic, the Government and other state (standing) commissions and councils appointed in accordance with special laws, their deputies and members thereof, as well as their family members;
21) residents who wish to receive State-guaranteed legal aid and who, under the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on State-guaranteed Legal Aid, are required to declare their assets (including income received);
22) permanent residents of Lithuania who have attained 18 years of age and are in possession of the assets specified in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of this Law, also persons aged 18 and over who have acquired the right to permanent residence in Lithuania in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Legal Status of Aliens;
Note. Residents specified in subparagraph 22 must, by 1 May 2010, declare the assets held by them on 31 December 2009.
23) persons who intend to donate to a political party or a participant in a political campaign and their family members;
24) residents who wish to receive state support for acquiring or renting housing in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on State Support for Acquiring or Renting Housing and Renovating (Modernising) Apartment Blocks and their family members.
2. The family members specified in subparagraphs 1–20 and 23 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be considered spouses and children (adopted children) under 18 years of age living together with them, who must declare their assets only if they are permanent residents of Lithuania. A permanent resident of Lithuania shall be a natural person who is considered to be a permanent resident of Lithuania under the provisions of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Income Tax of Individuals. The family members of residents specified in subparagraph 24 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall also be considered persons between 18 and 24 years of age not in employment, who study at full-time general education schools and full-time divisions of other formal education establishments (school pupils or students), persons during the period between the day of finishing of full-time general education schools until 1 September of the same year, as well as persons recognised as family members by the court, and parents (adoptive parents) living together with spouses or a single person.
4. The agency for civil service management must, on the basis of the data from the Register of Civil Servants, by 1 February of the calendar year, submit to the central tax administrator a list of the names of residents who were employed as civil servants during the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the list is submitted.
Article 3. Assets Subject to Declaration
1. The residents specified in subparagraphs 1-21 and 23 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Law must declare the following assets held by them:
2) movable property, where such type of property is subject to legal registration under the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania;
3) monetary funds kept in banks and other credit institutions or elsewhere than in banks and other credit institutions, where the total amount of such monetary funds exceeds LTL 5 000;
4) monetary funds that have been borrowed and have not been repaid, where the total amount of such monetary funds exceeds LTL 5 000;
5) monetary funds that have been lent and have not been recovered, where the total amount of such monetary funds exceeds LTL 5 000;
6) works of art, precious stones, jewellery and precious metals, where the value of one such item exceeds LTL 5 000;
2. The residents specified in subparagraph 22 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Law must declare the following assets held by them:
1) immovable property, including unfinished structures the titles to which have not been registered in the Real Property Register of the Republic of Lithuania;
2) funds kept elsewhere than in banks of the Republic of Lithuania and other credit institutions, where the total amount of such funds exceeds LTL 5 000;
3) works of art, precious stones, jewellery and precious metals, where the value of one such item exceeds LTL 5 000;
3. The assets specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article as subject to declaration shall include both assets held in the Republic of Lithuania and in foreign states.
4. The assets received for assistance provided in the course of covert cooperation with entities of operational activities and in other cases specified by laws shall not be subject to declaration.
Article 4. Substantiation of the Sources of Acquisition of the Assets Declared
1. The local tax administrator shall have the right to issue a mandatory instruction requiring a resident to substantiate the sources of acquisition of the assets declared (with the exception of the assets the sources of acquisition whereof the permanent resident of Lithuania has already substantiated when declaring the assets in accordance with other legal acts).
2. At the request of the local tax administrator, the sources of acquisition of the assets declared shall be substantiated by the documents attesting to the transactions, other legally valid documents or written confirmations issued by third parties in conformity with the laws. The documents attesting to the transactions, other legally valid documents or written confirmations issued by third parties must contain the data based on which the identity of the person who has paid out the funds may be established.
Article 5. Assets Declaration Procedure
1. The residents specified in subparagraphs 1-19 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Law shall declare the assets held on 31 December of the calendar year for which the assets declaration is filed (hereinafter referred to as the “declaration”) by filing one copy of the declaration with the tax administrator. At the request of these residents, two copies of the declaration may be filed. One of them, with a stamp confirming the filing of the declaration, shall be returned to the resident who has filed it.
2. The declaration shall be filed annually by 1 May of the calendar year following the calendar year for which the assets held are declared, except for the cases specified in Articles 6, 7 and 71 of this Law.
3. The data in the declarations for the past five calendar years may be updated, starting with the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the updates are made.
4. The form of the declaration and the procedure for completing and filing thereof shall be established by the central tax administrator. Residents declaring their assets under this Law shall be supplied with declaration forms and instructions for the completion of declarations free of charge.
5. Civil servants and officials of state institutions having the rights of entities of operational activities of the Republic of Lithuania whose activities are regulated by the Law on Operational Activities and their family members shall declare their assets in accordance with a separate procedure and within the time limits established by the Government or an institution authorised by it.
Article 6. Declaration of Assets Held by Candidates for the Office of State Politicians and Members of the European Parliament, Elected or Appointed State Politicians and Members of the European Parliament, Recruited or Appointed Civil Servants, State Politicians and Members of the European Parliament Who Ceased to Hold Office, Civil Servants Dismissed from Office and of their Family Members
1. Candidates for the office of state politicians, candidates for Members of the European Parliament and their family members must declare the assets held on 31 December of the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which they run for office. The local tax administrator shall, within 15 working days from the date of filing of the declaration, issue these residents with extracts containing basic data of the declaration, in the form approved by the Central Electoral Commission, which they must submit to the Central Electoral Commission or the constituency electoral committee.
2. Elected or appointed state politicians and Members of the European Parliament and their family members as well as recruited or appointed civil servants and their family members, except for those who have declared the assets held on 31 December of the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the state politicians or the Members of the European Parliament were elected or appointed to office and the civil servants were recruited or appointed to office, must declare the assets held on 31 December of the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the state politicians or the Members of the European Parliament were elected or appointed to office and the civil servants were recruited or appointed to office. The declarations shall be filed within 30 days of the election, appointment or admission to office. The local tax administrator shall, within 15 working days from the date of filing of the declaration, issue the elected or appointed state politicians and Members of the European Parliament and their family members as well as the recruited or appointed civil servants and their family members who have declared their assets with certificates of filing of the declaration, except for those who have declared the assets held on 31 December of the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the state politicians or the Members of the European Parliament were elected or appointed to office and the civil servants were recruited or appointed to office and who receive the certificates of filing of the declaration from the local tax administrator within five working days.
3. State politicians and Members of the European Parliament who ceased to hold office and their family members as well as dismissed from office civil servants, bailiffs, notaries and their family members must declare the assets held on 31 December of the calendar year in which they ceased to hold office or were dismissed from office in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 5 of this Law.
Article 7. Declaration of Assets (Including Income Received) of Persons Who Wish to Receive State-guaranteed Legal Aid, Persons Who Wish to Be Granted Cash Social Assistance as well as Persons Who Wish to Receive State Support for Acquiring or Renting Housing and of their Family Members
1. Residents who wish to receive State-guaranteed legal aid must, in the cases specified by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on State-guaranteed Legal Aid, declare the assets held (including income received) prior to applying for State-guaranteed legal aid.
2. Residents who wish to receive State-guaranteed legal aid shall declare the assets held on the last day of the month preceding the month in which an application for State-guaranteed legal aid is submitted and the income received during one year (the last 12 months) before the date of submission of an application for State-guaranteed legal aid. Where a resident who wishes to receive State-guaranteed legal aid has declared the assets held and the income received during one year (the last 12 months) within three months preceding the month in which an application for State-guaranteed legal aid is submitted, he shall not be required to declare the assets held and the income received during one year (the last 12 months). Where State-guaranteed legal aid is provided for longer than one year, after a period of one year from the date of adoption of the decision to grant State-guaranteed legal aid, the declaration covering the following year (12 months), starting with the month in which the previous declaration was filed, must be filed with the local tax administrator.
3. Residents who wish to receive cash social assistance and their family members must declare their assets (including income received) at the request of the municipality.
4. Residents who wish to receive cash social assistance and their family members shall declare the assets held on the last day of the month preceding the month in which an application for the provision of cash social assistance is submitted and the income received in the last 12 months before submission of an application for the provision of cash social assistance.
5. Residents who wish to receive state support for acquiring or renting housing and their family members must declare the assets held and income received in the cases specified in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on State Support for Acquiring or Renting Housing and Renovating (Modernising) Apartment Blocks.
6. Residents who wish to receive state support for acquiring or renting housing and their family members shall declare the assets held on the last day of the month preceding the month in which an application for state support for acquiring or renting housing is submitted and income received, as specified in Article 15 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Cash Social Assistance for Low-income Families and Single Residents, during one year (the last 12 months) before the date of submission of an application for state support for acquiring or renting housing.
7. Residents who wish to receive State-guaranteed legal aid, residents who wish to receive cash social assistance, as well as residents who wish to receive state support for acquiring or renting housing and their family members shall declare their assets (including income received) by filing two copies of the declaration with the tax administrator. The local tax administrator shall, within seven working days from the date of filing of the declaration, return one copy of the declaration with a stamp confirming the filing thereof. Residents shall submit this copy of the declaration to the institution (official) deciding on the granting of State-guaranteed legal aid or to the municipality, where an application is made for granting of cash social assistance or state support for acquiring or renting housing.
8. At the request of the residents specified in this Article who have declared the assets held (including income received), three copies of the declaration may be filed. Two copies of the declaration, with a stamp confirming the filing thereof, shall be returned to the resident who has filed the declaration.
Article 71. Reference Declaration of Assets
1. The residents specified in subparagraph 22 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Law shall once declare the assets held by them on 31 December of the calendar year in which they have attained 18 years of age or in which they have acquired the right to permanent residence in Lithuania in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Legal Status of Aliens (where this right has been acquired after attaining 18 years of age). The declaration shall be filed by 1 May of the calendar year following the calendar year for which the assets held are declared. In this case, a reference assets declaration shall be filed.
2. Where the persons specified in paragraph 1 of this Article are not in possession of the assets referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of this Law, the filing of a reference assets declaration shall not be mandatory and it shall be considered that such persons have declared that they are not in possession of the assets referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of this Law in accordance with the established procedure.
Article 72. Declaration of Assets (Including Income Received) of Persons Who Intend to Donate to a Political Party or a Participant in a Political Campaign and their Family Members
1. Persons who intend to donate to a political party or a participant in a political campaign must declare the assets held (including income received) prior to donating.
2. Persons who intend to donate to a political party or a participant in a political campaign and their family members shall declare the assets held on the last day of the month preceding the month in which a donation is intended to be made and the income received during the last 12 months before a donation is made. Where a person who intends to donate has declared the assets held and the income received during one year (the last 12 months) within three months preceding the month in which a donation is made, he shall not be required to declare the assets held and the income received during one year (the last 12 months).
3. Residents who intend to donate to a political party or a participant in a political campaign and their family members shall declare their assets (including income received) by filing two copies of the declaration with the tax administrator. The local tax administrator shall, within seven working days from the date of filing of the declaration, return one copy of the declaration with a stamp confirming the filing thereof. Residents shall submit this copy of the declaration to the accountant of the political party or the treasurer of the political campaign.
Article 8. Data Accumulation and Control
The tax administrator shall verify the accuracy of the data provided in the declarations, accumulate and store the declarations filed as well as the data received from other sources relating to the assets held by residents.
Article 9. Liability for Violation of this Law
1. Residents specified in subparagraphs 1-19 and 22 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Law as subject to the declaration of assets who avoid filing declarations, fail to file them on time or file them altogether or provide incorrect data, as well as residents specified in subparagraphs 20, 21 and 24 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Law as subject to the declaration of assets who provide incorrect data shall be subject to administrative or criminal liability.
2. Persons specified in subparagraph 23 of Article 2 of this Law as subject to the declaration of assets who provide incorrect declaration data shall be subject to administrative or criminal liability.
3. Where a resident has not declared his assets in accordance with the procedure set forth by this Law, such assets may not be used for the purpose of substantiating the sources of acquisition of other assets. Where a competent state institution has initiated a tax inspection in respect of the persons specified in paragraph 1 of this Article or another investigation of an offence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, these persons shall no longer have the possibility of voluntary filing or updating of assets declarations for the respective period. Should the declaration nonetheless be filed, it would be disregarded by the competent state institution and would not be assessed.
Article 10. Procedure for the Publication of Declaration Data
2. The data of the declarations of assets held by residents on 31 December of the calendar year in which they held the office of the President of the Republic, Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Members of the European Parliament, Prime Minister, Ministers, Chancellor of the Prime Minister, Deputy Chancellors of the Prime Minister, heads of departments of the Office of the Prime Minister, Advisers to the Prime Minister, Vice Ministers, members of municipal councils, Chancellors of the Ministries, Presidents of the courts of the Republic of Lithuania and their deputies, chairmen of court divisions, judges, members of the Commission on Tax Disputes under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, members of the Chief Administrative Disputes Commission, Prosecutor General and his deputies, heads of structural divisions of the Prosecutor General’s Office as well as heads of county and district prosecutors’ offices, Auditor General and his deputies, civil servants of the National Audit Office, county governors and their deputies, heads (director generals, directors, governors) of the institutions under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (departments, agencies, services, inspectorates) and departments, services and inspectorates under the Ministries and their deputies as well as heads (director generals, directors, governors) of other state authorities and their deputies, Chairperson of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and Deputy Chairpersons, civil servants of the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance and territorial customs offices, civil servants of the State Tax Inspectorate under the Ministry of Finance and county tax inspectorates, civil servants of statutory institutions within the sphere of management of the Ministry of the Interior, the Seimas Ombudsmen, civil servants of the state security system and their family members, except for the declaration data of civil servants and officials of state institutions having the rights of entities of operational activities whose activities are regulated by the Law on Operational Activities and their family members, shall be made public without a written consent of these residents.
3. The central tax administrator shall publish the data of the declarations of the residents specified in paragraph 2 of this Article in the special supplement to the official gazette Valstybės žinios. The extract containing basic data of the declarations shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or an institution authorised by it. Such extracts of the declarations as well as extracts containing basic updated data of the declarations for the past calendar year shall be submitted to the editorial office of the official gazette Valstybės žinios by the central tax administrator annually by 1 September. The official gazette Valstybės žinios shall publish the extracts of the declaration data, including the updated data of the declarations for the past calendar year, annually by 1 October.
4. Other civil servants and their family members may publish their declaration data in the special supplement to the official gazette Valstybės žinios at the expense of the State. The approved extract containing basic data of the declaration as well as written consent to publish the declaration data shall be submitted to the editorial office of the official gazette Valstybės žinios by the resident himself. The time limits for submission of the extracts containing basic data of the declaration and publishing thereof shall be the same as specified in paragraph 3 of this Article.
Article 11. Preparation of Certificates Necessary for Completion of the Declaration
At the request of the residents specified in paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this Law, banks, other credit institutions and other legal entities of the Republic of Lithuania shall issue certificates relating to the assets held by the resident, as specified in subparagraphs 3–5 of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of this Law. The certificates shall be prepared and issued free of charge within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application.