- In November 2019, the Ministry of Finance proposed the 2020 Fiscal Package, with simultaneous changes in five areas: the automotive industry, sports sponsorship, the luxury vehicle tax, and especially invoicing procedures.
- The most lasting effect was the fiscalization, the new invoicing and turnover monitoring system, which was postponed due to the pandemic and was actually phased in, beginning in January 2021.
- The rest of the proposals, the sectoral relief measures, and the specific fine amounts were part of a draft bill at the time, not a final enacted law, and may have been changed by subsequent amendments.
- Any specific figure (fine, tax rate, relief percentage) mentioned here must be verified in the current law in effect, not assumed valid today simply because it was part of a 2019 proposal.
In early November 2019, the Ministry of Finance and Economy presented the 2020 Fiscal Package for consultation, a set of draft laws that simultaneously addressed five areas: corporate tax for the automotive industry, incentives for sports sponsorship, the tax on luxury vehicles, and especially invoicing procedures, as part of the bill on fiscalization.
In our daily work, we see readers who find old articles like this and treat the fine amounts or relief rates as rules in effect today, when they were part of a draft bill in consultation, not a final law, and many of them have been changed by amendments in subsequent years.
What did the 2020 Fiscal Package propose?
Proposed sectoral facilities
The draft law proposed a reduced corporate tax rate of 51% (instead of the standard rate) for businesses in the automotive industry, in line with a regional initiative to attract investments in this sector. It was also proposed to exempt athlete bonuses from personal income tax and to allow, as a deductible expense up to three times the amount, sums that large businesses sponsored in the field of sports. A third proposal aimed at an annual 10% depreciation of the taxable value of vehicles classified as luxury. These were proposals in a specific bill from that year, so it cannot be confirmed here whether they remained unchanged until today without verifying the current law.
Fiskalizimi, the change that forever changed invoicing.
The bulk of the draft law, and the part with the most lasting consequences, concerned harmonizing the Law on Tax Procedures with the new draft law “On the Invoice and the Monitoring System of Turnover.” The latter, now simply known as fiscalization, provided for the creation of a central system where every invoice (with or without cash, B2B, B2C, or B2G) was recorded and monitored in real time by the tax administration, along with a new, progressive fines scheme for non-compliance.
The implementation was postponed several times, among other reasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the fiscalization was actually rolled out in phases, beginning in January 2021. Today it is the standard invoicing system in Albania, no longer a pending project.
Every time there is a tax or financial change that affects your business, we notify you directly by email with a practical explanation.
Send me free notificationsWhy does it matter today?
Fiscalization is a reality, not a project anymore.
Every active business in Albania today operates within the fiscalization system, using electronic invoicing devices, electronic signatures, and real-time reporting to the tax administration. The exact amounts of fines for non-compliance may have changed since the original 2019 proposal, so for current precise figures you should consult the updated version of Law No. 9920/2008 “On Tax Procedures” and the specific act on invoicing and the turnover monitoring system.
How we handle this with our clients
When a client asks us whether a relief or penalty mentioned in an old article still applies, we always verify it in the current text of the law before confirming, rather than relying on a draft bill or notice from the previous year.
Frequently asked questions
Were all the proposals in the 2019 package approved?
We cannot confirm it without a point-by-point verification. It is known for certain that the fiscalization was approved and implemented. The rest of the sectoral relief measures must be checked individually in the current law.
Is Law No. 8438/1998 still the legal basis for income tax?
No. That law has been replaced by Law No. 29/2023 “On Income Tax,” so any reference to the old law should be read as historical.
Where can I check my current fiscal fines?
At the General Directorate of Taxes, in the updated text of Law No. 9920/2008 and the secondary acts on the invoice and the turnover monitoring system.
