Addressing a meeting with Socialist Party members and officials in Tirana, PM Rama underlined that over 140 million euros is returned annually to Albanian citizens thanks to his government’s progressive taxation policy and removal of an earlier 10% tax rate applied by the previous centre-right government.

“A 10% tax rate was levied on all wages when we took office. A sanitation worker and the prime minister paid 10% on income tax, without taking into account the social and health insurance contributions,” PM Rama said, stating that no income tax is applied to around 57% of wages in Albania.

“An income tax rate ranging from 4 to 10% is currently levied on 36% of wages, with an effect of around 140 million euros annually, an amount that was previously collected from workers,” he said.

The government head also highlighted the new wage reform launched in the last two years, with the average monthly wage jumping to 930 euros.

He said that the private sector is following the suit by increasing wages. However, he underlined that wage underreporting practice remains a problem in the country’s private sector.

/r.e/u.sh/