The execution of the construction and maintenance process
Pursuant to the provisions of Law No. 92/2014 of July 24, 2014 “On Value Added Tax in the Republic of Albania,” as amended, construction operations, including the performance of the construction and maintenance process, are supplies of services. The supply of these services is taxable for VAT purposes.
Construction is defined as any operation that results in the complete or partial completion of a new or substantially altered building. Maintenance is defined as any operation carried out on land or in a building to prevent deterioration or damage and to keep the land and buildings in good appearance and proper working order, including cleaning.
Works related to the construction process, without being limited to them, are:
i) Construction of buildings and other construction works;
ii) works for the equipment of buildings that have as an effect the definitive installation of apparatus or materials;
iii) restoration and repair works on buildings, as well as installations of a real estate nature.
Construction works include:
i) construction works carried out by various professional teams involved in the construction of buildings such as excavations, foundation creation, site clearing and leveling, boreholes and preliminary excavations for real estate development, works
of the field team, the facade, etc.;
ii) public works such as: roads, railways, bridges and all works of art, runways, stadiums, etc.;
iii) sheet metal work on building exteriors, as well as metal structures such as collection or circulation systems;
iv) land development works that involve modifying the existing terrain, such as quarry excavations, slope leveling; excavation and backfilling of pits; soil clearing, etc.
For certain works related to buildings and real estate as well, even though the primary purpose is not the construction of a structure, they are considered service supplies, such as certain cleanings solely for maintenance and the opening of small channels in harbors, rivers, etc.
Works included in real estate works
Installation works that involve placing elements which lose their movable character due to their incorporation into an immovable whole must, for VAT purposes, be considered part of the immovable property. They are considered as such when the removal of the installed material cannot be carried out without causing serious damage to that material or to the building that contains it.
Operations that are part of real estate development:
i) Secondary installations in the construction of such buildings, such as electrical installations (lighting, power, doorbell); sanitary installations (sinks, showers, shower trays); installation of water-heating appliances incorporated into the building; installation of heating systems, plumbing fixtures, smoke extraction, etc.; installation of floor coverings, etc.;
ii) Works not included in real estate works are those which, whatever the nature of the building in which the installations of movable objects or apparatus are carried out, at the moment they are installed retain their movable character.
Restoration or repair work
Restoration or repair works intended to renovate a building or an installation with an immovable character, are considered works on real estate. They are regarded as such when the operations carried out involve placing materials or elements that are integrated into a real estate asset or when these operations are intended to replace the used elements of a real estate installation or shttion of new elements incorporated into this installation or into the building that houses them. Among these operations, we can cite:
i) the restoration of façades, which includes work to clean the façades of old buildings or that can be integrated into a full new-construction cycle;
ii) repair of roofs, chimneys, flooring, doors, and windows.