TIRANA, Oct. 27 – Tax inspectors imposed fines worth 1.4 million euros on more than 4,000 businesses last September during field inspections in the first 23 days of the nationwide campaign against informality, according to the tax administration.
The tax administration says some 4,427 enterprises, mainly SMEs, were fined a total of 203 million lek (€1.43 mln) during September 9 to 30.
Inspectors said they identified 674 unregistered businesses, seized unregistered goods to 883 businesses and found 672 people working informally in the first 23 days of the campaign.
Last September, some 600 groups of tax inspectors backed by police officers started carrying out field inspections in a bid to give an end to widespread informality, estimated at around 30 percent of the country’s GDP, officials said.
The Albanian government says it targets collecting about 330 million dollars from the nationwide campaign which will last 300 days in a similar operation to the electricity campaign to curb massive thefts and collect accumulated unpaid bills which has brought an extra 100 million euros to the state coffers since its launch in late 2014.
The much-rumored nationwide campaign against tax evasion with thousands of businesses previously operating informally registering with tax authorities is having a boomerang effect on government revenue. Official data published by the Finance Ministry shows public finances failed to meet the target even last September when more than 15,000 businesses registered after warnings of fines and seizure of goods. The tax and customs administrations failed to collect 4 billion lek (€28.7 mln) last September, with the revenue for this month only 0.6 percent higher compared to September 2014.
Experts have warned the campaign will further affect domestic consumption, the key driver of the Albanian economy, and spark a price hike in the short-run despite positive effects in the mid-and long-term.
