Revenue from taxes, customs duties and social and health insurance contributions is projected to rise by 7.6% from the expected 2026 level, Malaj said as he presented the draft 2027 budget to the Conference of Chairpersons.

The revenue projections are based on expected economic performance, inflation, new fiscal measures and improvements in tax and customs administration, he said.

Budget revenue is forecast at around 843.1 billion leks, or 30.2% of GDP, in 2026, Malaj said.

The 2027 estimates for tax, customs and insurance contribution revenue take into account expected collections for 2026, historical revenue trends and macroeconomic forecasts, he said.

The projections also factor in economic growth and inflation, new fiscal and budgetary policies, the impact of previously introduced measures and additional revenue expected from the implementation of the Medium-Term Revenue Strategy, Malaj added.

“The 2027 revenue plan supports the Finance Ministry’s objectives of increasing revenue through improved tax and customs administration, financing key government reforms and budgetary investments, and keeping the budget deficit and public debt under control,” he said.

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Reporting to parliament on progress in EU accession talks, Yzeiraj said reforms under the EU’s taxation and customs chapters focused on aligning the country’s legislation with the bloc’s rules, upgrading technical systems and strengthening administrative capacity.

He said the government’s 2024-2027 Medium-Term Revenue Strategy sought to improve tax administration, increase integrity across revenue institutions and boost fiscal sustainability through greater efficiency.

“Our objective is for Albania’s revenue-to-GDP ratio to exceed 29% in 2026, driven by improved revenue collection efficiency, not by tax increases,” Yzeiraj said.

He added that the government was also aligning public-private partnership rules with EU standards and implementing measures to support the agricultural sector, including a sovereign guarantee scheme covering 70% of eligible agricultural loans and a 10% reimbursement scheme for farmers developed in consultation with the European Commission.

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The growth reflects improved economic activity and better performance of the tax administration.

Higher corporate profits is mainly linked to improved profits from private companies, driven by increased domestic consumption and expansion in key sectors such as construction, tourism, and services, contributed to the rise. Efforts to reduce tax evasion and expand formal business participation also played a role.

For the full year, corporate tax revenues are projected to reach 65.7 billion lek — up 10% from 2024.

Authorities plan to tighten controls on tax declarations through risk-based analysis and new systems aimed at curbing tax avoidance.

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According to the financial indicators report by the Ministry of Finance, the budget revenue from the excise duties rose 9.1% on the year, with the administration collecting over 4.8 billion lek more than in the same period of 2023.

Tax administration plans to collect 64.3 billion lek until end of 2024 or 5.9 billion lek more than during the same period of the previous year.

State budget revenues from excise duties are projected to amount to 66.984 billion lek in 2025 or 2.6 billion lek more than in 2024.

The main factors in the excise revenue projections are related to the increase in excise revenue generated by additional economic growth; increased imports and consumption in fuel, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, wine, beer, etc., as well as the increase in excise duty rates due to the implementation of the excise duty increase on tobacco.

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Presenting the proposed 2025 state budget at the Parliamentary Committee on Economy and Finance on Wednesday, Finance Minister Petrit Malaj noted that compared to the revised budget revenue collections in 2024, in 2025 the tax administration projects to collect around 40.6 billion lek up by 0.2% compared with 2024.

According to him, tax revenue as percentage of GDP is expected to grow 27.1% to 709 85 billion lek in 2025 or 54.15 billion lek more than in 2024.

Non-tax revenue collections are projected to amount 25.8 billion lek, slightly increasing with 400 million lek compared to the initial 2024 budget.

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The Ministry of Finance said in its fiscal indicators report that revenue collections during the reviewed period totalled 14.7 billion lek, registering an increase of 37% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Official data also indicated that the revenue collections rose 2.9% year on year or 936 million lek more than during the same period of 2023.

The Ministry of Finance said that VAT reimbursement during the first seven months rose 37% to 14.7 billion lek or 4 billion lek more than during the same period of 2023.

VAT reimbursement also increased 45.9% or by around 4.6 billion lek more than planed during this period.

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The Ministry of Finance said that revenue collections from VAT were also estimated around 452 million lek less than planned down by 0.4%.

According to Ministry of finance the budget revenue from VAT on imports has been significantly affected by strong exchange rate changes, cutting the VAT calculation base for imported goods.

The increase in VAT collections due to the increase in the volume of imports has not compensated for the significant decrease in VAT due to the reduction of the calculation base as a result of the depreciation of the Euro and the U.S. Dollar.

Tax administration plans to collect around 211.2 billion lek in budget revenue from VAT, up by 5.6% compared with 2023.

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According to the financial indicators of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, budget revenue collections rose 9.7% year-on-year to 18.3 billion lek.

The total public expenditures were estimated at 172.6 billion lek, accounting for 88.1% of the planned spending in the first four months, recording a 2% increase or by 3.4 billion lek in expenditures compared to the same period of the previous year during this period.

Total public expenditures were estimated 24.7% year-on-year during this period.

Albania’s budget recorded a surplus of 33.9 billion lek in the first four months, up from a planned surplus of 10.8 billion lek.

The budget surplus is 78.6% higher or 14.9 billion lek more than during the same period of the previous year.

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