EU expects Albania to launch second phase of action plan against informal economy in 2017

The European Union (EU) has urged Albania to implement the second phase of the action plan against informal economy in 2017 in order to promote the voluntary tax compliance, local media reported Tuesday citing a latest EU report on Albania.

According to the recently-published report, Albania has to adopt and implement an updated organizational structure in its tax system, including clearly defined responsibilities within the tax administration and an independent appeal mechanism.

Some Albanian economy experts supported such recommendations saying that Albanian government should be committed to fully formalizing economy but on the other hand also establishing fair and cooperation relationship with the business community.

The Albanian government first launched the operation against economic informality across the country in September 2015 with the then Finance Minister Shkelqim Cani saying that the level of informality reached almost 50 percent, while one third of businesses operating in Albania had no cash registers at all.

Meantime, in August 2016, the current Finance Minister Arben Ahmetaj launched the second phase of the operation against informality, pledging to enter into cooperation with businesses and reducing the number of tax inspections.

In this regard, the European Commission, or the EU's executive body, noted that some progress had been made in the fight of informality in economy which according to Albanian ministry of finance has resulted in higher tax collection.

But on the other side, as media here reported Tuesday, the European Commission has urged the Albanian authorities to improve tax revenue mobilization in order to lower the public debt level while creating space for growth-enhancing spending. Endit