Businesses show little interest in fiscal amnesty

TIRANA, Sept. 4 – Since May 2011, only a few hundred businesses have expressed interest in having their past tax obligations paid under set tariffs. The tax administration says that until the end of August, only 271 cases out of a total of 420,000 have paid their obligations for 2009 and 2010. However, the amount of 22.7 million lek paid by these businesses is less than one percent of the estimated 57.7 billion lek of unpaid obligations by businesses. The situation for the customs administration appears the same with only individuals wanting to have their customs obligations at a 50 percent tariff being more interested. Meanwhile, businesses seem indifferent to the amnesty law which failed to get the necessary votes to turn into full amnesty. Under the amnesty law, businesses will have their tax and customs debts pardoned until December 2008. They have to pay 30 percent of the principal for 2009, and 50 percent of the capital for 2010 to have their fines and penalties forgiven Citizens and businesses have been invited to declare unpaid taxes and hidden assets under tariffs of 3 to 5 percent. Only businesses connected to current and former public office holders and those whose origin of capital is not legal business, i.e criminal activities and trafficking, are excluded from the law on the “legalization of capital and the pardon of part of tax and customs debts.” Application forms for the self-declaration process, which will remain open until the end of this year, have already been issued. However, accounting experts say businesses have doubts about the advantages of declaring hidden monetary amounts and assets. The Institute of Accounting Experts says that one of the most controversial issues is the fact that the law states that if false self-declaration is identified in the future, businesses will lose their amnesty benefits. The Tirana Chamber of Commerce and Industry shares the same concerns over the amnesty’s guarantees. 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.