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After standing for 2 years in the drawers of the Assembly, the government has again brought for discussion the draft law on fiscal amnesty that has sparked public debate since its launch. The draft comes with some changes extending the inclusion of every Albanian citizen, living inside or outside the country. Only officials and senior officials remain outside.
But, in addition to them, the amnesty will also benefit businesses that have evaded by hiding income as they will be forgiven and will be given the opportunity to declare real financial statements without holding auditors and accountants accountable for differences in business balance sheets. .
Other beneficiaries will be foreign citizens regardless of their citizenship who are tax residents in Albania.
The new draft law sets a maximum limit for voluntary declaration up to the value of 2 million euros, for the legalization of movable or immovable property, cash, or other undeclared assets.
Through this fiscal and criminal amnesty, the government restricts to voluntary declarants the opportunity to transfer abroad the declared money for a period of 5 years from the moment of declaration. Nor can they withdraw this money until the end of the legal term of law enforcement.
However, in cases when the declaring entities want to transfer the amounts declared abroad before this deadline, a penalty of 30% of the transferred amount is provided to them.
For voluntary declarations of amounts in cash, in movable or immovable property made in the first 4 months from the entry into force of the law, the tax rate is 7%, and after this period 10% of the total amount declared.
If the entities decide to invest the assets declared in government securities, treasury bills or bonds not less than 2 years old, the Bank of Albania will keep a tax of 5% of the total amount for the investments made in the first 4 months of entry into force of the law and 7% after this time period.
For the implementation of this fiscal and criminal amnesty, ie that forgives the voluntary declarants fines, penalties or interest on arrears for their assets and excludes them from criminal prosecution, a special structure will be set up depending on the Taxes.
This special unit will collect information in cooperation with banks, the cadastre, the directorate for the prevention of money laundering, as well as other institutions.
The amnesty is expected to be implemented for a period of 9 months from the entry into force of the law, unlike the initial draft of Finance which was for a period of 1 year.
International organizations have from the outset criticized the government’s initiative to implement a fiscal amnesty.
But, despite this, Prime Minister Rama has advanced his commitment by openly challenging the voices of critics, even under the argument that the public has spoken about this issue through the National Council, where Albanians have been asked if they are in favor of amnesty. (photo temp share.)
Synchronous Rama Congress
Even in the last mission of the International Monetary Fund in Albania, the financial institution reiterated its stance against fiscal amnesty, given the risks that may be associated with money laundering.
In fact, Albania still remains on the MoneyVal gray list for money laundering in the March report of this year, as part of the countries with increased monitoring for the high risk of money laundering.
List from which it had emerged in 2015, to be re-entered in February 2020 due to the steps back in this direction.
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