A tax amnesty that would legalize the wealth of Albanians in and outside the country, proposed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, is a policy that was implemented by the Berisha government in 2011. Then head of the opposition, Rama harshly opposed this policy.
Today, Prime Minister Rama presented the tax amnesty as “a necessity for Albanians” that should have been granted since 30 years before, asking the parliament to pass his proposal. He claimed that this would give Albanians the opportunity to legalize their income, declaring what they have yet to declare and putting their money in Albanian banks.
The same kind of amnesty, excluding criminal income, was implemented by the Berisha government in 2011. At the time, Berisha asked the opposition, headed by Edi Rama, to vote on the tax amnesty, but the latter refused to do so.
Seeing as the law failed to receive the necessary number of votes in parliament, Berisha implemented the tax amnesty via an Ordinance of the Minister of Finance.
According to the 2011 ordinance, all persons, small and large businesses, within or outside the country, would declare their cash holdings, as well as any undeclared real estate. They would deposit cash holdings in banks, after filling out a form and paying a 3% fee.
After being deposited in local banks, this money could then be transferred in foreign banks.
On February 29, during the Socialist Party Congress, Rama proposed a tax amnesty for Albanians inside and outside the country, who will have the opportunity to legally deposit their wealth in banks with no tax obligations and no criminal repercussions.
Unlike the Rama’s proposed tax amnesty, Berisha’s policy did not include criminal amnesty for those declaring their wealth.
