TIRANA, Nov. 24 – Albania registered the greatest increase in the total tax rate among 189 countries in 2014 when the rate of the corporate income tax increased by 5 percent to 15 percent and the property tax doubled, according to the 2016 Paying Taxes report published by the World Bank and the PwC audit firm. The report shows Albania lost 11 places to rank 142nd with a total tax rate as a percentage of commercial profit of 36.5 percent, up from 30.7 percent in the 2015 report.
Albania’s total tax rate is composed of 14.1 percent in profit taxes, 18.8 percent in labor taxes and 3.6 percent in other taxes such as municipal fees and vehicle and fuel taxes. The results shows Albania has one of the highest total tax rates among regional EU aspirants and lower only compared to Serbia’s 39.7 percent and Turkey’s 40.9 percent. The total tax rates in Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina range from 12.9 percent to 23.3 percent.
Albania also ranks poor in terms of time to comply with the three main taxes with an estimated 357 hours per year and a total of 34 tax payments.
Albania’s business climate suffered a major setback in the past year, losing 35 places in the World Bank Doing Business report on a sharp deterioration in dealing with construction permits.
Albania ranked 97th out of 189 countries in the 2016 Doing Business report, from a revised 62nd last year, lagging behind all regional countries.
