Albania: Minimum VAT registration threshold increased; recent legislation amended

During the months of July and August 2020, several legislative acts amending the tax legislation were published in Albania’s official gazette, covering the following matters: 

• Increase of the minimum VAT registration threshold;
• Extension of the deadline for revaluation of immovable property; and
• Postponement of the effective date for implementation of the law on fiscalization. 

Minimum VAT registration threshold revised (Official Gazette no. 139, 29 July 2020)

As from 1 January 2021, the minimum VAT registration threshold will be increased from the current ALL 2 million of annual turnover to ALL 10 million. Taxpayers with annual turnover below ALL 10 million will have the option to register (or stay registered) for VAT only if their annual turnover is expected to exceed ALL 5 million.

The new rule also will apply to:

• Freelance professionals providing services, for whom the VAT registration threshold currently is zero; and
• Agricultural producers subject to the special compensation scheme (i.e., individual farmers), for whom the VAT registration threshold currently is ALL 5 million.

Deadline extended for implementation of the law on revaluation of immovable property (Official Gazette no. 136, 21 July 2020)

Since 14 January 2020, individuals and legal entities owning immovable property as well as individuals owning immovable property in the registration process have had the option to revalue their immovable property at market value for tax purposes by 30 September 2020. Law no. 91/2020 extends this deadline to 31 December 2020 (i.e., by three months).

A summary (in English and Albanian) of the provisions of Law no. 90/2019 “On revaluation of immovable property” is available in the Special Tax News edition of the Fiscal Package 2020 published by Deloitte Albania in January 2020.

Certain effective dates of law on invoicing procedures postponed (Official Gazette no. 146, 7 August 2020)

Law no. 87/2019, “On electronic invoice and the turnover monitoring system” (known as the law on fiscalization), enacted in January 2020, aims to monitor taxpayers’ turnover in real time by imposing new invoicing requirements. Measures in the law were to become effective on different dates, starting on 1 September 2020. Law no. 108/2020 postpones the effective dates applicable to cash transactions until 1 September 2021 for all taxpayers, regardless of the type of tax responsibility or annual turnover.

Source – Deloitte