A new Law no. 33/2017 "On payment and deletion/erase of tax liabilities, liabilities payable to the customs authorities, and the procedure for removal from circulation of vehicles after the relevant tax liabilities are deleted/erased" (herein 'Amnesty Law') was enacted by the Albanian Parliament on March 30, 2017. This law will become effective 15 days following the publication in Albanian Official Gazette.

 Amnesty Law defines as 'unpaid tax liabilities' any tax/contribution/tariffs, late payment interest, and any administrative penalty related to or not with a particular tax/contribution/tariff as defined by Tax Procedure Law or other tax laws, and it defines as 'customs payable liabilities' any due unpaid liability to customs authorities including customs duties, VAT, excise, royalty tax, packaging tax, circulation tax, carbon tax, fines, late payment interest and compensating interests.

The main liabilities, which are subject to the 'total deletion' and/or 'partial deletion' and the relevant requirements as provided by Amnesty Law, are respectively the followings:

(i) Unpaid tax liabilities and the relevant administrative penalties (fines) and late payment interests and fines and late payment interest related to health and social insurance contributions pertaining to tax period prior to December 2010 (i.e. excluding relevant health and social insurance contributions) will be deleted/erased;

(ii) For the tax/tariff/contribution related to tax period January 2011 - December 2014 that is paid until December 31, 2017, this law provides for deletion/erase of the related fines and late payment interests which result as outstanding at the effective date of Amnesty Law.

In addition, Amnesty Law provides for the specific requirements applicable to deletion of customs liabilities and taxes related to vehicles that are removed from circulation. Further, this law provides for the possible deletion and the relevant applicable requirements that ought to be met if the taxpayer is following a tax appeal process.

Note that any rights and procedure to benefit from the provisions of Amnesty Law should be respectively exercised and exhausted by December 31, 2017.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.