In this issue:

I. Decision of Council of Ministers no. 178, dated 09.03.2016 "On the approval of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information"

II. Amendments to the Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 953/2014 "On implementing provisions to the law no. 92/2014, "On VAT""

III. Order of Minister of Finance no. 36, dated 08.03.2016 "On the announcement of some changes on International Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards, translated into Albanian"

I. Decision of Council of Ministers no. 178, dated 09.03.2016 "On the approval of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information"

The Decision of Council of Ministers no. 178, dated 09.03.2016, published in the Official Gazette no. 39, dated 15.03.2016, approved the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information according to the text attached to this Decision.

This Decision is based on Law no. 146/2013 "On the ratification of the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters".

In accordance with the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters to which Albania has adhered, the General Tax Directorate (GTD) has the right to receive information not only from banks and non-bank financial institutions but also from each individual who possesses the information concerned.

The Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information is the systematic and periodic transmission of financial and tax information by countries to the residence country, concerning various categories of income. The tax information covered by the Agreement includes: (i) tax on income and profit tax; (ii) tax on capital gains (iii) tax on social and health contributions; (iv) estate, inheritance or gift taxes; (v) taxes on immovable property; (vi) VAT and excise taxes; etc.

The exchange of information can be done on request or automatically. Each member jurisdiction, as declared when signing the agreement, has appointed the competent authority, which is the institution in charge to exchange the tax information. For Albania, the competent authority is composed of the Ministry of Finance and General Tax Directorate.

The intended first information exchange for Albania is in September 2018.

II. Amendments to the Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 953/2014 "On implementing provisions to the law no. 92/2014, "On VAT""

The Decision of Council of Ministers no. 176, dated 09.03.2016, published in the Official Gazette no. 39, dated 15 March 2016 changed as follows the list of machineries and equipment exempted from VAT, which are directly connected with an investment:

  • Added: 7305 11 00 (Longitudinally submerged arc welded) and 7307 93 91 (Elbows and bends);
  • Removed: 8414 20 20 (Hand pumps for cycles).

III. Order of Minister of Finance no. 36, dated 08.03.2016 "On the announcement of some changes in International Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards, translated into Albanian"

The order of the Minister of Finance no. 36, dated 08.03.2016, published in the Official Gazette no. 43, dated 23 March 2016, approves the Albanian translated version of a few amendments to International Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards occurred during 2015 (mainly related to dates of entry into force of changes to IAS 28 and IFRS 10).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.