Albania/November 2013
According to the law on Tax Procedures, the non resident taxpayer has the right to assign a representative in Albania. Non resident taxpayers are all those who do not meet at least one of the required criteria, provided by Article 8 of the law, that defines the resident taxpayers. According to the law, resident taxpayers are all the individuals that: are resident in Albania; have Albanian citizenship despite working abroad as diplomatic representatives; stay in Albania at least 183 days during a year; and all juridical persons who: are registered in Albania; have their headquarters in Albania.
The law on Tax Procedures and the relevant bylaws provides for that the tax representative is appointed to secure the fulfilment of tax obligations for those entities that are not obliged to register as resident taxpayers but have tax obligations in Albania. The Ministry of Finance in June 2013, made some changes in this respect to improve the implementation.
The previous instruction of the Ministry of Finance was not detailed, and provided only that, the tax representative must be registered at the National Registration Centre. After the recent changes, the registration now is done at the tax authorities. The most important change is that now the tax authorities check and verify if the representative meets all the legal criteria, which are now more specific.
The tax representative can be another commercial company that is registered for VAT payment in Albania. The representative, no later than five days from his nomination, must be presented before the local tax directory and apply for his registration as tax representative. He must provide the following legal documents:
1.The decision, authorisation or power of attorney that appoints him as tax representative and that provides all the actions that he is authorised to perform;
2.A certified copy of the representation contract between the parties; and
3.A certified copy of the Certification of Tax Registration, from the relevant state’s tax authorities, issued within three months from the date of application, certifying if the taxpayer activity is active or passive.
The tax representative may be given a range of tasks other than those required by the law, but he shall be authorised to perform at least the following activities:
1.Fill in the tax invoices;
2.Accept the tax invoices for authorised transactions;
3.Submit VAT declarations in Albania;
4.Pay the tax obligations and receive tax reimbursement;
5.Keep the records of all the appointed transactions;
6.Act on behalf of the non resident taxpayer and represent him during possible controls of the tax administration; and
7.Comply if there are any obligations related with VAT on imports, exports, and custom duties.
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