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From the American Chamber of Commerce to the EC against 'fiscal amnesty', the arguments why the government's initiative is dangerous
The "Fiscal Amnesty" draft law proposed by the Albanian government seems not to have sounded positively to the international community, and has even been met with criticism.
Unanimously, they express growing concern for Albania that the initiative will serve to turn the country into a money laundering center.
German Association of Industry and Commerce
The German Association of Industry and Trade in Albania (DIHA) has expressed itself against the Fiscal Amnesty law.
In a press release, DIHA says that the law in question should have been part of a comprehensive legal package, to bring efficiency and promote competition in the market.
DIHA emphasizes that the law would bring negative effects, such as encouraging formal businesses to switch to informality. DIHA also teaches about taxation, emphasizing that a tax of 5%, 7% and 10% is quite low, which encourages the formalization of undeclared money and assets.
American Chamber of Commerce in Albania
The American Chamber of Commerce in Albania is against the fiscal amnesty, in the form proposed by the government.
According to her, the initiative does not guarantee that individuals with serious criminal activities such as drugs, human trafficking and money laundering will be excluded from the amnesty.
Likewise, the implementation of the amnesty will bring unfair competition, favoring individuals with past illegal activities.
European Commission
Earlier, the European Commission also warned that the "Rama" government's draft for fiscal amnesty will weaken the control against money laundering and constitutes an essential risk for the country's reputation.
Through a statement distributed on Monday by the EU delegation in Tirana, the European Commission stated that the draft weakens Albania's control against money laundering; what worries the member states of the European Union as well as other partners.
The law on fiscal amnesty has also been denounced by the opposition, according to which it aims to clean the money obtained from criminal activity.
What does the initiative envisage?
The project foresees that in exchange for a tax of 5 to 10% of the wealth put through smuggling or fiscal evasion, Albanian citizens or foreigners with fiscal residence in Albania will have the opportunity to declare up to 2 million euros per family and escape forever criminal or administrative responsibility for crimes committed, including fiscal evasion, VAT fraud or smuggling of excise goods.
Prime Minister Edi Rama's government published in 2020 a fiscal amnesty initiative while facing criticism from the International Monetary Fund, which pointed out that a fiscal amnesty could be used for money laundering.