Albania/February 2013
Albania has been applying an attractive flat tax of 10% since 2008. The same flat tax is approximately implemented in the last decade by most of the regional countries.
Thus, the question naturally arises: Since most of the regional countries have adopted almost the same flat tax, what makes Albania attractive beyond its low tax norms?
For the Deputy General Tax Director, Mimoza Kalia, Albania avails a nice blend of good and professional tax administration with an encouraging business climate. “It has been trained and assisted constantly by various programs of the EU and the World Bank. This assistance has consisted in know-how and logistics as well,” she told to Eurofast Global.
Among all the facilitations done to the Albanian tax system, lately the Albanian tax administration, in cooperation with the local second-tier banks, are working for the fulfillment of e-payment.
According to Kalia, this will be one of the most important facilitations which the Albanian tax administration will offer taxpayers to save their time as well as further simplify the procedures and guarantee accurate operations.
Important to underline is that Albania’s tax system does not discriminate against foreign investors and no distinction is made between foreign and domestic investors. The Law on Entrepreneurs and Commercial Companies provides the guidelines on the activities of companies and the legal structure under which they operate. The law was amended in 2008 and brought in line the Albanian legislation with the European Unions’s acquis communitaire.
The National Business Registration Center, founded in September 2007, serves as a one-stop-shop for business registration. Starting a business is now easier with online publishing of forms and procedures, reduction of registration costs, and the consolidation of tax, health insurance, and labor registration into a single application.
Licensing for businesses has also been streamlined with the opening of the National Licensing Center in July 2009. As a result, many licenses were abolished and a broad simplification of licensing procedures has been implemented across several sectors.
Albania improved public procurement procedures by approving a law in 2006 which introduced e-procurement.
The Public Procurement Advocate, established in 2008 performs functions similar to an ombudsman by safeguarding the rights and interests of bidders against acts or omissions by contracting authorities.
Law No. 10303, dated 15 July 2010 established Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA). The agency has become a key player in the attraction of Foreing Direct Investments (FDI) into the country. AIDA provides direct assistance to investors, promotes SMEs, Albanian exports, and FDI.
So far, Albanian government has undertaken a series of fiscal incentives with the aim of wholly reformatting the fiscal system in Albania and foreign investors in particular have welcomed the latest fiscal incentives of Albanian government.
Eurofast Global, Tirana Office /Albania
tirana@eurofast.eu
Tel.: +355 42 248 548
www.eurofast.eu