A 453-million-euro amnesty with no breakdown

The tax authority announced on Friday that the fiscal amnesty law has so far wiped out 453 million euros in tax liabilities and that 220,435 businesses have benefited. Some liabilities are canceled unconditionally, others once the taxpayer meets certain conditions. The announcement gives no breakdown by type of tax, size of business or the year the liability arose.

There are strong arguments for the amnesty. For many small businesses, old liabilities, fines and late-payment interest have kept them from obtaining clearance certificates, bidding in tenders or applying for loans. Wiping them out opens the way for them to get back in good standing with the tax authority. That is good for them and, if it works, for the state's coffers in the years ahead.

But without a breakdown, the public cannot judge. Did most of the sum go to thousands of small businesses with small debts, or to a few companies with large liabilities? How much of the 453 million was unpaid tax and how much was fines and late-payment interest? These questions matter to those who paid on time and get nothing today.

The context makes transparency easier, not harder. Also on Friday, the Finance Ministry reported that revenue for the first nine months reached 626.6 billion lek, 100.3% of plan, with net domestic VAT 29% higher than a year earlier and a budget surplus. At the same time, corporate profit tax stood at 95.7% of plan and capital spending reached only 75.2%. A state that collects well and invests less than it plans should also explain clearly what it forgives.

Our proposal: the General Directorate of Taxes should publish a breakdown of the amnesty by type of tax, business size, year of the liability and amount brackets, without individual names. For the conditional amnesty, it should report how many taxpayers met the conditions. And Parliament's economy committee should hold a hearing before the 2027 budget is voted on.