World Bank: Difficult tax system in Albania

The World Bank considers Albania as the country with the most difficult tax system in the region and among the most difficult in the world, which creates costs and penalizes business.

The last report of “Paying Taxes 2013”, which analyzes the fiscal systems of 185 world economies, ranked Albania among the last 25 spots. According to the Bank, the main causes for this precedent are the many procedures and the high administrative burden, compared to other countries.

The report says that an enterprise in Albania must pay 44 taxes each year, which includes the contributes, income tax, VAT and other local taxes. The same indicator for other Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries is 28 in average, while in the developed countries it is even 12.

The high number of taxes increases the cost and the time needed to pay them. According to the Bank, an enterprise in Albania spends 357 hours each year to close the preparation of documents and the payment of tax obligations. In the region this is 260 hours, while in the developed countries it goes to 176 hours each year.

The simplification of the tax procedures is one of the indicators where Albania has the lowest progress in business. In 2008, Albania was ranked better than the average of the region. But during this time, the other countries have made the tax payment easier, while in Albania they are unchanged. According to the World Bank, although Albania is among the countries with the lowest taxes, the fiscal procedures and the bureaucracies are the heaviest, not only for the region, but also for the world.