Tax burden increased

The yearly report published by the World Economic Forum shows a questionnaire taken from 100 Albanian companies. The businesses have listed taxes as the second biggest obstacle, after that of finding funds.

The same report of last year didn’t consider the tax burden as one of most problematic factors for the business climate in Albania, but even ranked 8th. It seems that during the last year, the businesses are feeling an increased tax pressure. Beyond the decrease of the VAT and other direct taxes to the business, the Albanian businessmen often complain for arbitrary tax collection with reference prices and other non transparent methods. Besides this, the government has managed a constant government policy for increasing excises and other hidden taxes that increase the production cost. The index of global competition is considered as one of the most thorough reports in economics. It scans a wide area of indicators, which are categorized in three main groups: elementary demand, efficiency increase and innovation.

The last report notes that in total, the concurrence of the Albanian economy has been improved with 10 years, compared to last year, ranking it the 78th of 142 economies that were reviewed.

This improvement, according to the World Economic Forum is related with the strengthening of the institutions, the road infrastructure improvement and reforms that have decreased bureaucratic procedures for the registration and the functioning of businesses. Some other indicators that are related with property rights, domestic competition, loan access, scientific reforms that lead the technological innovation and the modernization of the economy, rank Albania among the last countries of the world.

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