According to the official draft law, all unpaid tax and customs debts up to December 31, 2014, will be fully cancelled, with the exception of social and health insurance contributions. For those contributions, only penalties and interest will be forgiven, while the main contribution amount remains payable.
Beneficiaries also include self-employed farmers, who often carry minor but long-standing liabilities due to limited income and administrative barriers.
Breakdown by Category:
Partial Relief for 2015–2019 Debts
Beyond the complete write-off of pre-2014 obligations, the draft law introduces partial amnesty measures for more recent periods.
For debts incurred between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2019, taxpayers can receive partial debt relief under two conditions:
1. If they pay 50% of the debt by June 30, 2026, the remaining 50% will be erased.
2. If they opt to pay 75% by December 31, 2026 (in monthly installments), the final 25% will be automatically cancelled.
In both cases, all fines and interest related to those periods will be completely forgiven.
This clause aims to reward compliant taxpayers who make an effort to settle part of their obligations while still providing relief to struggling businesses.
Forgiveness for 2020–2024 Penalties
For the period between 2020 and 2024, the proposed law foresees the cancellation of penalties and interest — but only if the principal debt is fully paid by December 31, 2026.
The same rule applies to social and health insurance contributions, including for self-employed farmers, provided that the full contribution amount is paid within the deadline.
Under this scheme, all administrative fines (such as those imposed for late declarations or delayed payments) will be wiped clean once the main debt has been settled.
Current Debt Situation in Albania’s Tax and Customs Administrations
As of December 31, 2024, Albania’s Tax Administration recorded:
• 202,387 taxpayers with outstanding debts
• Total unpaid taxes: 162.5 billion ALL (≈ €1.7 billion)
• Principal debt: 98.4 billion ALL (≈ €1 billion)
• Fines: 58.1 billion ALL (≈ €581 million)
• Interest: 7.9 billion ALL (≈ €79 million)
Debt Age Distribution (Tax Obligations):
• Over 10 years old: 29.5 billion ALL (18%)
• 5–10 years old: 75.2 billion ALL (46%)
• 2–5 years old: 32.8 billion ALL (20%)
• 1–2 years old: 10.4 billion ALL (6%)
• 6–12 months old: 7.3 billion ALL (5%)
• 3–6 months old: 2.8 billion ALL (2%)
• Less than 3 months: 4.2 billion ALL (3%)
These figures highlight how a significant portion of Albania’s tax debt is aged and unlikely to be recovered, prompting the need for this legislative intervention.
In the Customs Administration, the situation is similar:
• Total unpaid customs debt (as of Dec 2024): 48.5 billion ALL (≈ €500 million)
• Number of debtors: 4,684
• Principal: 13.1 billion ALL (27%)
• Fines: 26.5 billion ALL (55%)
• Interest: 8.9 billion ALL (18%)
By age, customs debts older than 10 years total 25.7 billion ALL, confirming that much of the debt to be erased has been dormant for over a decade.
Economic and Administrative Implications
The proposed amnesty is designed to simplify the government’s balance sheets and improve Albania’s business environment. For companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this means a fresh start, freeing them from historical obligations that limited access to financing and public tenders.
Economists, however, warn that such measures should not become routine. Repeated debt forgiveness may discourage tax compliance, as businesses might delay future payments expecting new amnesty laws. The government insists this initiative is a one-time cleanup, meant to reset the fiscal system ahead of broader digitalization and enforcement reforms.
Albania’s 2025 debt relief initiative represents one of the largest fiscal cleanups in recent years — with €525 million in unpaid taxes and customs debts set to be erased. While the measure offers much-needed relief to thousands of businesses, its long-term success will depend on stronger future compliance policies and transparent implementation by tax and customs authorities.
If managed properly, this reform could mark a turning point in Albania’s fiscal governance, making the system fairer, more efficient, and better aligned with European standards.