Huge VAT fraudulent scheme

“Never before have the budget revenues dropped with a stronger pace than now, which cannot be explained even with the economic crisis. This situation raises strong shadows of doubts that taxes and customs, right after of the elections, at the best case scenario have not implemented the law, and at the worst case scenario, have allowed goods to enter without paying taxes and profit from the last days in power”, said the material prepared on October 1st.

Two weeks later these doubts have been officially confirmed. The Minister of Finances, Shkelqim Cani, declared in the Parliamentary Commission of Economy that the tax administration has consumed crimes that have left financial damages for the budget.

“The most concerning thing for me, and you must stay assured that I am following it, is that there are even criminal acts in the administration of the Albanian taxes”, Cani declared.

Top Channel has learned that this is about a giant fraudulent scheme with the VAT bills, involving ghost companies from China that have received budget money through fictive bills which mount up to millions of Euros.

Sources say that most of this scheme has been realized in July and August, during the political transition months, when the data showed an immediate and unnatural change of the income collection pace. The Ministry of Finances says that they are following this issue through the legal institutions. Minister Cani will sign a criminal report against the people and companies that stand behind the scheme, the names of which are not being made public due to the investigations.

Erjon Brace, as Chairman of the Commission of Economy, asked the Minister of Finances to make a full identification of this network, to punish the ones who are responsible and to recover the revenues.

“There should be no amnesty for the tax evasion in this period of 8-9 months. The criminal responsibility for each of the state employees who have violated the law and have allowed smuggling and tax evasion, regardless of who they are. Naturally, every value that has been a burden in the state budget for these nine months should be recovered”, Brace declared.

Albania’s public finances have been facing a crisis for years now, and the strong economic drop and deterioration of the tax administration shows that no end is near in sight. But the recent reports show that another reason stands behind the dropping revenues, and that is a theft through fraudulent schemes of ghost companies that disappear after making the illegal transactions.

Top Channel