The consumption crisis in Albania is giving its effects even on the personal revenues, which initially showed no problems.
During August and September, the budget collected fewer revenues from Personal Income Tax (PIT), compared to the same period of one year ago.
“Shqip” newspaper says that PIT is 10% of the revenues that the Albanians take from wages and other bonuses, and that the progress of the government revenues from this tax reflects the progress of the Albanians’ revenues in general.
During January and May, despite the decrease of retail sales, the budget collected more revenues from the PIT than one year ago.
But the situation deteriorated in June, until by August and September it turned negative. From January to September, the government collected 20.5 billion ALL from the PIT, with a 3% growth, compared to one year ago.
Experts say that the government budget cuts are the main cause of this revenue decrease, but they do not exclude the possibility that the consumption crisis might have been converted in wage decreases or job cuts in the private sector.
The Albanians started consuming less since February 2011, and this phenomenon peaked in April and May.
The government revenues from VAT, which in theory is 20% of the total population consumption, had a nominal increase of only 0.5% for the period January-September, the lowest since 1997.
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