Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that a team of investigators will audit Albanian businesses and those found paying their workers under the table will be prosecuted.
“The unit we have founded has begun their investigations. Business owners must report salaries in full in their next tax statements, otherwise we will catch them. If the investigation finds that you have underreported wages, you will be brought before prosecutors,” said Rama.
In early January, Minister of Finance Delina Ibrahimaj declared that 10,000 Albanian businesses were to be investigated for underreporting wages.
A letter was sent to every company believed to have engaged in tax fraud. In Albania, it is a relatively common practice to declare a lower salary on tax returns (and thus pay less tax and social security), and provide the rest of the salary in cash.
The decision came after a database containing the personal data of the majority of taxpayers in the country was leaked to the public and media. This data included the names, employers, and salaries of some 640,000 Albanians citizens.
It also showed that some 30% of Albanian citizens received the minimum wage.
