The current developments within Central and South Eastern European countries are accompanied by ongoing changes in tax systems. For investors and business men this means numerous new developments to take into account. We have summarized an overview of the most important VAT changes in Albania for the year 2013, that are a result of the Law 125/2012.
Law 125/2012 introduces the following VAT exempt supplies
- Import and local supply of goods made of iron or steel classified in chapters 7213 and 7214 and of cement classified under codes 2523 29 00; 523 30 00 and 2523 90 00 of the Combined Nomenclature of Goods used as raw materials for the construction of hydropower plants;
- Import of machineries and equipment used for the implementation of investment contracts with a value equal or higher than LEK 50 million;
- Import of machineries and equipment used in the inward processing industry and agribusiness regardless of the investment value;
- Import of machineries by persons subject to local tax on small businesses, for the purpose of performing their production activity.
All other machinery and equipment not falling into the VAT exemption and imported by taxable persons will continue to benefit from the existing VAT deferral scheme for a period up to 12 months from the moment of importation. The VAT may be deferred for a term beyond the 12 months period upon decision of the Minister of Finance when certain requirements are met.
The machinery and equipment, the exemption procedure and the respective criteria for benefiting from the VAT exemption shall be determined by forthcoming decisions of the Council of Ministers.
