Businesses want VAT deadline extended

TIRANA, September 5 – The business community has called on government to extend the deadline of the electronic declaration of the value added tax (VAT), saying that the current obligation to electronically submit VAT by the fifth day of each month was bringing extra costs.
In a statement issued last Sunday, Konfindustria, an association bringing together mainly manufacturing businesses, says the deadline should be extended to the 12 day of each month in order to improve the business climate.
Konfindustria said many businesses were suffering fines in huge amounts because of data inaccuracy as a result of the tight deadlines.
Businesses also justify their request with the need to train their staff on IT.
The law requires that business file their taxes by the 14th day of each month, while they should submit electronically to the General Directorate of Taxes (GDT) their sales and purchases books by the 5th day of the month. In a recent survey financed by USAID, businesses complained that this period was not sufficient to collect and compile all the invoices for their business activities. In some specific cases, such as companies that have several branches dispersed throughout Albania, this becomes truly problematical.
E-filing requires a certain level of IT knowledge and especially of MS Office software; however, many businesses, and in particular those located outside Tirana, lack this knowledge. Business people and their representatives suggested that they need more training on e-filing.
The internet access percentage is higher for businesses in Tirana (84%) and lower (57%) in other cities. Some 80% of the interviewed businesses that have Internet access in their office have high speed internet connection (ADSL/Cable or Antenna/Wireless), said the Institute for Development Research and Alternatives (IDRA) in the latest report on electronic tax services usage.
The survey found out that businesses are in favour of using these services and that e-tax services seem to reduce and improve the interaction between businesses and tax officials. However, businesses also indicated concerns related to insufficient submission deadlines, lack of IT capacity, server overload, confirmation receipts, and other technical problems.
The electronic tax services were introduced in Albania in October 2007 during the first phase of the Millennium Challenge Corporation program.