Tags: albania property, Albania Real Estate, Albanian Property Market TIRANA — The Assembly of Albania approved Monday several supplements to the law on the Value Added Tax (VAT), intended to exempt from VAT for both domestic and imported raw materials used in farming, including farming equipment and pedigree animals.
The VAT exemption will benefit around 350,000 farms in the country, and the laws’financial effect on the state budget is around 30 million euros.
Prime Minister of Albania Sali Berisha said Monday that approval of law on VAT exemption for raw materials in agriculture consists of a remarkable day for business and farmers, stressing that this is a strong support for expansion of production and employment.
“Today, in an historic act, parliament voted law on exemption of VAT and any custom fees for machineries for all businesses,” said Berisha in a post on his profile in social network “Facebook”.
In the past two months, while the elections are approaching, the government of Albania has intervened five times in the tax system.
The changes started by removing VAT for appliances used for investments that cost more than 500,000 U.S. dollars. In parallel, the government removed VAT for steel and cement that will be used for the construction of hydropower plants.
After the VAT, the government deided to remove the income tax all individuals whose monthly salaries are no more that 30,000 leks (280 U.S. dollars) and exemption from house tax of the individuals with incomes up to 100,000 leks.
According to Finance Minister Ridvan Bode, this law benefits around 220,000 individuals across the country, whereas its impact upon the state budget is estimated at around 2.5 billion leks. The latest change is the halving of the tax for used cars.
Through these sudden decisions without a concrete draft, the government has created a budget loss of 17 billion leks each year, which puts into question the stability of the country’s finances, critics fear. (1 U.S. dollar = 108 leks) said Albanian-Property.com