Taxation authorities get mixed reactions from Finance Ministry on their annual analysis

TIRANA, Jan.17 – In the annual analysis of the performance of the General Directory of Taxation, Finance Minister Ridvan Bode emphasized the coordination processes that made possible positive levels of work during 2006. Bode said that the government had as a priority higher collections form the businesses, which he named as “economic generators”. He praised the work of this directory for having created a more positive climate in the relationship with local businesses and for the realization of 56 percent of the investment financing target. The work of this administrative unit expanded the tax base, according to the minister’s analysis with almost 17 thousand new businesses identified as a result of more accurate work. Important progress has been made in the field of labor, with 45 thousand new workers entering the regular social contribution scheme. This helped to alleviate the losses form the lowering of the social contribution percentage by almost pone third as a requirement. It has also been an important step in the general fight against grey economy and informality.
The minister also mentioned that lower taxes to business have enhanced positive interaction between the government and the business community. Thus tax on earnings has been lowered by 15 percent and taxes on small business have been almost cut in half. Labor and personal taxes have also been reduced.
On the other side, Bode did not fail to mention the complex problematic scene of the taxation field where many employees have been accused of corruption and theft. He said that the situation is quite delicate ad that there still remains quite a lot of work to be done. Among the priorities of the Finance Ministry for improving the situation for the upcoming period, is decentralization. The local government has been already given some taxation responsibility since the end of 2006.