TIRANA, March 12 – Businesses and households will be able to pay thirteen taxes online through the e-Albania government portal within this month, saving time and printing costs, the tax administration says.
The easier procedures are offered as part of a deregulation reform that the Albanian government has undertaken in a bid to improve the business climate by reducing bureaucracy through the introduction of more electronic services.
Authorities say taxpayers can do this by logging in to the e-Albania portal with their credentials and can carry out the partial or full payment of thirteen taxes and tariffs.
Finance Minister Arben Ahmetaj has said the deregulation reform will ease procedures for both businesses and households in a bid to further improve the country’s business climate and attract foreign investment.
The initiative targets transforming public services, simplifying authorization, licence and permit procedures by reforming business and household relations with the tax and customs administrations and offering more e-services, leading to reduced time and effort to access public services.
Currently, birth and real estate certificates are already offered through the e-Albania government services portal among a series of other public services.
The de-regulation reform was undertaken ahead of the June 2017 general elections at a time when key taxes such as the corporate income tax and the withholding tax on dividends, rents and capital gains remained unchanged at 15 percent, defying business calls for a return to a flat tax which Albania applied at a 10 percent rate for six years until 2013.
Albania lost seven places to rank 65th among 190 economies in the 2018 Doing Business report, lagging behind almost all regional Western Balkan competitors applying lower taxes.
The easier tax procedures and a judiciary reform that has just been initiated with the vetting of judges and prosecutors are expected to significantly improve Albania’s business climate in the next few years.
If successful, the reforms will also benefit the attraction of much-needed foreign direct investment and know-how after two major energy-related investment complete by the end of this year, leaving a huge gap of more than €200 million annually.
Online payments through the e-Albania portal
– Business VAT
– Business profit tax
– Business gambling tax
– Personal income tax
– Companies’ mining royalty
– Simplified profit tax
– National taxes
– National tariffs
– Withholding tax
– Business social security and health insurance contributions
– Global obligations
– Employment income tax
– Small business personal income tax
