Over 10,000 electric vehicles circulating in Albania are expected to be included in the new taxation scheme. For the first time, a new tariff will also be applied to foreign vehicles entering Albanian territory.
The changes are part of the new fiscal package, which foresees the removal of the circulation tax from the price of fuel and its transition to annual vehicle taxes.
Specifically, the amendments to the law "On some amendments to law no. 9975, dated 28.7.2008, "On national taxes", as amended, provide for the establishment of a fixed annual tax for electric vehicles, depending on their category.
The draft law proposes that for electric cars, buses and other categories of vehicles the tax level will be 15 thousand lek per year, while for electric motorcycles the obligation will be 1 thousand lek per year. Currently, no annual tax is applied to electric vehicles.
These changes will affect over 10,000 electric vehicles in the country, according to sources from the Ministry of Finance.
Another innovation is the imposition of a circulation tax on foreign vehicles entering Albania. The interventions were announced by Prime Minister Edi Rama during the presentation of the fiscal package.
"We will remove the circulation tax from the price of diesel and automatically reduce the price of diesel by 32 lek at the pump, while we will return the tax to the car and collect it through the relevant Road Transport Directorate."
"On the other hand, we will impose a new circulation tax, as is the case throughout Europe, for foreign cars entering the territory of the Republic of Albania," declared Prime Minister Edi Rama during the presentation of the measures.
Sources from the Ministry of Finance confirmed that the new tariff for foreign cars entering the country is expected to be determined based on the number of days they stay in Albanian territory. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, during the first 9 months of the year, around 2.6 million vehicles with foreign license plates entered the country.
Removing the sales tax from fuels and shifting it to vehicles is expected to change taxes for a number of categories, including used vehicles and luxury vehicles.
For vehicles used after the changes, annual tax obligations are expected to increase by up to double what is currently paid. According to the new taxation formula, a diesel vehicle, manufactured in 2013 and with 2,000 cc cylinders, will pay 18,000 lek per year, up from 9,000 lek currently paid.
Changes are also foreseen for luxury vehicles. The annual tax for this category is proposed to be increased from 21 thousand to 40 thousand lekë, or 19 thousand lekë more per year or 90% more than is currently paid. This measure is expected to bring about 430 million lekë in additional revenue to the state budget.
With the new fiscal package, the shift of the 27 lek per liter turnover tax from fuel to annual vehicle taxes is expected to increase vehicle tax revenues by 7.2 billion lek. Currently, revenues for this category amount to 26.6 billion lek. After the changes, their level is expected to reach 33.8 billion lek.
The net effect of this measure, according to the draft law, is estimated to be a decrease in revenue of 5 billion lek from the Ministry of Finance. Meanwhile, the price of fuel is estimated to drop by 32.3 lek per liter./ Monitor
