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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The convention is due to play an important role for promotion of economic-trade relations between the two countries.

The draft law on ratification of the convention between the government of Albania and Israel has already been forwarded to the Assembly for further examination.

The convention carries a complete legal basis on tax treatment of Albanians or Israelis who have business activities or other revenues included in the tax legislation of the two countries.

The Convention also has provisions, according to which states exchange information and cooperate to prevent tax evasion by entities operating in both countries./p.s./

Commenting on the Socialist Party’s program, Shalsi said that the ruling majority is committed to press ahead with a series of crucial reforms, major investment projects and the post-earthquake reconstruction programme.

The State Minister said that the ruling SP has not waited for the electoral campaign before actions and projects are launched, but we have delivered on major reforms and development projects throughout the country.

“We have been working as if in the context of an electoral campaign. Many infrastructure and development projects have been launched and important reforms have been undertaken consistently. We didn’t wait for the electoral campaign to offer business and citizens online service deliveries. We have scrapped profit tax on small business and we have increased the VAT threshold,” Shalsi said.

He dwelled upon a series of major investment projects due to be launched across the country soon.

“We have signed an historical agreement with the United States on Skavica hydropower plant and Vlora thermal power plant, while a big investor is negotiating for construction of Durres port. All these investment projects will have a huge impact on the country’s mainstream economy,” he said.

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