Austrian government loan to assist e-taxes

TIRANA, April 9 – Under a Euro 10 million soft loan, the Austrian government is supporting Albania in establishing the e-tax system. The deal was signed this week by Albanian Finance Minister Ridvan Bode and Austrian representatives.
The project is part of the strategic e-government programme of the Albanian government financed by the Austrian government in the frame of the bilateral financial cooperation deal signed in December 2010. A new tax system that will fulfill functional and legal requirements based on EU standards will be set up under the project offering contemporary services to taxpayers and approximating legislation, says the Finance Ministry.
“This project makes possible the replacement of the current system and subsystems used by the tax administration and taxpayers increasing the administration’s performance and their efficiency in collecting taxes. The purchase of this system offers the advantage of implementing legal and technical criteria combined with great flexibility for future changes offering more qualitative public services at a lower cost.
Austrian Ambassador to Albania Florian Raunig reconfirmed Austria’s support to the Albanian government saying that other deals will be implementing especially in the health sector.
The Euro 10 million soft loan is awarded by the Austrian bank through Erste Bank der Oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG.