Businesses still worried over tax amnesty’s guarantees

TIRANA, May 30 – While the partial fiscal amnesty has entered into force and citizens and businesses have been invited to declare unpaid taxes and hidden assets under tariffs of 3 to 5 percent, the Tirana Chamber of Commerce and Industry remains concerned about the guarantees the law offers. Nikolin Jaka, the Chamber’s head, says that, although on a self-declaration basis, businesses still face the risk of penalties during inspections by tax officials. “What will not succeed, at least from the debates and contacts I have had with Chamber members and different entrepreneurs is the self-declaration part, which foresees that even though making a self-declaration, you might later undergo tax controls if some forgotten action is identified, even unintentionally, and you lose the right to being a fiscal amnesty subject and the self-declaration turns into a boomerang,” says Jaka. According to him, paragraph 4 of article 22 must be changed to provide a guarantee that businesses will not face consequences during inspections after the self-declaration process. The bill approved ahead of the May 8 local elections without the opposition’s consent pardons unpaid tax obligations for individuals and small businesses until December 31, 2010. Big businesses can have their customs and tax obligations pardoned until December 31, 2008. Application forms for the self-declaration process, which will remain open until the end of this year, have already been issued.