Albania’s government is proposing that people with up to two million euros in undeclared cash or property can declare it without penalty if they pay a tax – a scheme that the opposition claims will benefit criminals.

Albania Proposes Controversial Amnesty for Undeclared Assets

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (left) and Socialist Party secretary-general Damian Gjiknuri. Photo: LSA

Controversy has erupted in Albania after Socialist premier Edi Rama’s government proposed a financial and legal amnesty for people who legalise undeclared assets worth up to two million euros by paying a tax that ranges from five to ten per cent, with no obligation to reveal the source of the assets.

The opposition claims that the scheme would allow criminal to launder proceeds of illegal activities, in a country where money-laundering and organised crime are a serious concern.

“The law will only help human traffickers and drug dealers,” said Ervin Salianji, an opposition MP.

A similar scheme that was proposed last year was retracted following intense pressure from the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, which said it could aid money-laundering.

The new draft law proposes that Albania citizens living in Albania or abroad and foreigners with tax residency in Albania can declare up to two million euros in cash or property if they pay a tax of seven to ten per cent and keep the money within Albania for no less than five years.

Those who purchase bonds or treasury bills will be required to pay a tax of just five per cent.

The process will be overseen by a commission at the General Tax Directorate. No questions will be asked about the source of the money and the commission will provide full privacy for the beneficiaries.

Any possible criminal or administrative offences, such as tax evasion or fraud, that might have been committed in obtaining the assets will be pardoned.

The government had attempted to portray the potential beneficiaries as people who emigrated to other countries illegally, but worked hard and put aside savings that have not been declared to the banks and cannot be repatriated.

Damian Gjiknuri, the Socialist Party secretary-general, told a meeting of Albania emigrants in Britain that the law aims to help “boys in London who have taken risks”. Critics claimed this was a blatant invitation to drug dealers.

In a clarification, the Socialist Party insisted that Gjiknuri was only talking about hard-working illegal emigrants and not drug dealers. Critics however questioned whether any illegal emigrant could earn enough honestly to save up to two million euros.

Politicians and senior officials will not be able to participate in the amnesty scheme, or any relatives listed in their ‘family certificate’, an official document that generally include a husband, wife and their children.

However this would allow other relatives who are being used as proxies by politicians and senior officials to be the owners of dubiously-acquired assets to benefit from the legislation, critics say.

Some Socialist Party MPs have been accused of avoiding conflict of interest accusations by gifting their businesses to the adult children of relatives who have their own separate family certificate.

Source link: balkaninsight.com