Government, OK to fiscal amnesty

“The main beneficiaries are the Albanian citizens who will be able to legalize all of their money, wherever they have deposited them, by paying a 3% tax. All unregistered properties will be revaluated and registered with their real value, paying a tax of only 1%. All overdue fines and interests will be pardoned.” Prime Minister Berisha declared.  

This amnesty pardons small unregistered businesses by giving them a 3% tax, and also pardons unpaid social insurances, overdue fines and interests that have been in effect until December 2010. The businesses with known irregularities will have an amnesty on a 6% tax.

Properties of former and actual state administration officials will not benefit from this amnesty, as well as properties earned from criminal activities. Even though the Prime Minister himself admitted that this amnesty should have been given a long time ago, it was proposed for government approval at the same time when the electoral campaign was launched.

Berisha claims that business opinion has been taken in consideration with this law, but admits that this initiative would go in vain without the opposition.

“That is why I wish that the opposition votes this law with all of us. But if the opposition will continue the policies that they have followed so far, the Minister of Finances will proceed with the amnesty in Parliament and every one will build his own conclusions.” Berisha emphasized.

This amnesty brings fewer profits, but the government is willing to put it into act, starting with the pardoning of overdue energy bills to 270.000 families, while unpaid government debt remains 400 million dollars.

“In average, the amnesty benefit is 1407 dollars per family.” Prime Minister Berisha specified.

The fiscal amnesty has been proposed a long time ago by socialist president Rexhep Mejdani, but the political environment of the time rose against the law and the proposition was forgotten for years.

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