Konfindustria calls for awareness campaign on amnesty

TIRANA, July 18 – Albania’s business community represented by the Konfindustria Association has called on the government to undertake a publicity campaign informing migrants on the benefits of the partial tax amnesty. In a statement, Konfindustria’s administrator Gjergj Buxhuku says the arrival of migrants for the summer holidays requires an intensive awareness campaign by the country’s financial institutions.
According to Konfindustria, migrants’ knowledge on amnesty procedures are quite minimal.
Konfindustria had predicted that migrants’ personal revenues would be the main source of benefit for the Albanian economy and the fiscal amnesty.
Buxhuku says the Albanian economy could also benefit from the transfer of migrants’ savings to the Albanian banking system from countries severely hit by the crisis such as Greece.
The partial fiscal amnesty, in force since May 2011, has attracted interest only from individuals interested in having their unpaid car taxes and customs duties pardoned and those who want to have their real estate reassessed. 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.” The bill approved ahead of the May 8 local elections without the opposition’s consent pardons unpaid tax obligations for individuals and small businesses until December 31, 2010. Big businesses can have their customs and tax obligations pardoned until December 31, 2008. Application forms for the self-declaration process, which will remain open until the end of this year, have already been issued.
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.