Albania Launches Sectoral Plan to Boost Tax Compliance in Online Trade

Albania’s Tax Administration is intensifying oversight of online businesses, with a focus on turnover, VAT, employee reporting, and e-invoicing compliance. E-commerce businesses should align tax processes and ensure their POS, ERP, and invoicing data are accurate and consistent.

The tax administration will focus on main compliance risks, including:

-        taxpayer registration

-        correct declaration of turnover

-        fulfillment of VAT obligations

-        declaration of employees and salaries and

-        compliance with electronic invoicing requirements.

The plan also provides for greater use of risk analysis, data exchange with other institutions and operators, and coordinated enforcement actions. The aim is to encourage voluntary compliance while identifying and addressing high-risk cases.

Through these measures, the Tax Administration seeks to create a more transparent and formalized online market, reduce the informal economy, and increase budget revenues.

Businesses engaged in online trade and services are therefore expected to review their tax, VAT, employment, and e-invoicing compliance under the existing Albanian rules.

What should e-commerce businesses do next?

E-commerce businesses should review their current tax compliance processes, especially taxpayer registration, turnover reporting, VAT treatment, and electronic invoicing compliance, and ensure that POS, ERP, e-commerce, and invoicing systems produce consistent transaction data that can withstand increased data matching and risk-based audits by the Albanian Tax Administration.

Online Commerce and Services Plan. Source

Ljubica Blagojević, Junior Legal Researcher at Fiscal Solutions