Finance Minster Ridvan Bode attributes the failure to lack of political consensus as the bill failed to get the opposition’s votes which would turn it into a full amnesty.
TIRANA, Dec. 12 – With only two weeks to go before the deadline for the partial fiscal amnesty expires, the government has officially admitted that the amnesty, in force since May 2011, failed to yield expected results.
Finance Minster Ridvan Bode attributes the failure to lack of political consensus as the bill failed to get the opposition’s votes which would turn it into a full amnesty.
“Under circumstances of lack of political consensus and strong political debates and the opposition’s rejection of this initiative, the target has not been maximally achieved.”
While the bill served to citizens reassessing their property under minimum 1 percent fees, businesses mostly ignored the amnesty fearing verification of their self-declarations by tax inspectors.
Latest Finance Ministry data issued in October 2011, show individuals were most active in efforts to benefit from the fiscal amnesty, legalizing their undeclared revenues under a 3 percent fee, and reassessing their property under a 1 percent fee. In five months, individuals legalized 400 million lek of cash and had 30 billion lek of real estate reassessed by paying only 300 million lek. An estimated 14,000 individuals were reported to have benefited from the property reassessment process which under normal conditions is made under a 10 percent tax imposed on the difference of the sale and purchase price. Meanwhile, businesses reassessed property worth 14 million lek, paying 418,000 lek, under a 3 percent fee until October 2011.
Accounting experts justified businesses’ 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.
Deputy Finance Minister Alfred Rrushaj said earlier that the spirit of the amnesty was self-declaration, and businesses should be aware of this, acting in time, before the audits start. “When that happens, and the business has not self-declared things properly, and is found to be in evasion, there will be penalties,” Rrushaj said in a recent meeting with American Chamber of Commerce representatives.
No reward for pensioners
For the second year in a row, pensioners will not receive year-end bonuses. Meanwhile, public administration employees will get a 10,000 lek (100 USD) reward.
According to Finance Minister Ridvan Bode, awarding 5,000 lek bonuses to around 500,000 pensioners in Albania would have a cost of 30 million dollars, a bill which is considered unaffordable as the government faces difficulty with revenue collection.
Last July, pensioners underwent 4 to 7 percent increases.
The Labor Ministry says the pension increase policy will continue even in 2012 with an average rise of 4 percent, slightly more than the official inflation rate. INSTAT data show the average state pension stands at 12,000 lek, while village pensions at 5,650 lek.
