TIRANA, April 26 /ATA/ – The main opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Jorida Tabuku claimed Friday that the income tax law, which dictates the taxation rates applicable to businesses operating in freelance professions, violated the country’s constitution.
Addressing a meeting with 50 freelance professionals and her DP colleague Emilia Koliqi, Tabaku said that the taxation law on the freelance professions infringes legal certainty and equality before law.
“We have tried to avoid treating it as a populist issue, because we are all professionals, adequately educated to understand that there could be no state without taxes. This tax violates at least two elements of the constitutions, which the parliamentary group advisors have elaborated in details, concluding that it violated legal certainty and equality before the law. These should be taken into account by the Constitutional Court in order to decide in a logical way how to proceed,” Tabaku said.
Earlier today, the Constitutional Court accepted a case concerning the taxation of freelance professions, following a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party parliamentary group.
The lawsuit challenges the legality of laws governing the taxation of freelance professions, prompting the Constitutional Court to schedule a thorough examination of the matter.
Tabaku underlined that the Constitutional Court has requested the Democratic Party Group to provide any additional arguments they may have by May 21.
At the heart of the dispute lies the implementation of the “Income Tax Law,” which dictates the taxation rates applicable to businesses operating in freelance professions. Effective from January 1, 2024, these laws mandate tax rates ranging from 15% to 23% on profits earned by freelance professionals, after accounting for deductible expenses from their annual income.
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