TIRANA, March 14 /ATA/ – The main opposition Democratic Party lawmaker, Jorida Tabaku said Tuesday that a government plan to hike the minimum monthly wage level in Albania would fuel informality and tax evasion.
Tabaku noted that the bottom wage should be increased based on economic calculations about the productivity rate and the salary level in the market and such a decision should not be based on electoral purposes and calculations.
The opposition lawmaker said that the government thinks about increasing salaries and pensions once in two years only.
“The government thinks about retirees, workers and households once in two years only. After a year of government silence about economy, it was just recently, precisely ahead of the electoral campaign, we happen to hear about the minimum wage, the non-taxable ceiling and the government bonus for the retired people. To start with, the electoral code bans any new tax policy ahead of elections, bans any additional financial assistance, any bonus. However, such methods of using state resources for the vote have been perfected in the past ten years,” she said.
According to Tabaku, the unfounded minimum wage increase would encourage informality and tax evasion, just like it has been the case with the progressive tax system in all these years.
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