Taxation of Agricultural Sector in Albania

Brunilda Duraj (Zani) – Univeristy of Tirana, Faculty of Economics, Str. Arben Broci Tirana, Albania

Viola Theodhori – Univeristy of Tirana, Faculty of Economics, Str. Arben Broci Tirana, Albania

Abstract: Agriculture contributes about 20% to the Gross Domestic Prod­uct in Albania. It is one of the main sectors of the Albanian economy, which supports and impacts other important sectors such as tourism, product pro­cessing and exports.

In the conditions of the globalization of the economy, the free movement of goods and capital, and multilateral and bilateral agreements for the remov­al of tariff barriers, Albanian agriculture faces the challenges of very strong competition from the countries of the region, EU countries and beyond. In these conditions of strong competition, what can make Albanian agricul­ture survive, is that its products appear not only in the domestic market and those of the region but also in the international markets of goods and prod­ucts. The ambitions of our country for the development of intensive, year-round, coastal and mountain tourism, elite and agrotourism, requires the increase of the quantity, quality and lowest possible prices of agricultural and livestock products, in order to avoid the competition of imported goods that can be traded at lower prices.

How should agriculture, farmers, livestock, agricultural and livestock pro­duction be stimulated? Should they be incentivized through exemp­tions from the tax system or should the process of stimulating production through subsidizing the elements of agricultural and livestock production be used more efficiently?

The strategy implemented in our country has strengthened tax exemptions for inputs, agricultural and livestock products, farmers’ income, etc. This strat­egy intends to promote the cooperation of agricultural and livestock produc­tion in Agricultural Cooperation Societies by offering minimum tax rates.

Considering the great impact that agriculture has on the economy, especial­ly in the tourism sector, we will deal with the tax policies applied in the agri­culture and livestock sector and the effects of tax incentives over the years. The objective is not only to support the farmers and livestock farmers with funds but also to ensure tax relief and stimulate tax treatment for agricul­tural and livestock production, aiming to increase competitiveness not only in the regional market but also in the EU market, without compromising the quality of the product.

6th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2022 – Conference Proceedings, Hybrid (University of Maribor, Slovenia), October 27, 2022

ITEMA Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2022 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-63-9, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.2022

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission.

References

Bank of Albania. (2000). https://www.bankofalbania.org/Botime/Botimet_sipas_viteve/Buleti­ni_ekonomik_Vellimi_3_Nr_2-Bujqesia_Shqiptare_ne_periudhen_e_tranzicionit.html 

Institute of Statistics. (2022). http://www.instat.gov.al/en/themes/international-trade/international-trade-in-goods/publication/2022/foreign-trade-in-goods-october-2022/   

Additional Reading

AKPA. (2022). https://akpa.gov.al/publikime-shkp/ 

European Bank for Reconstrucion and Development. (2019). Agritourism sector in Albania: Development Potentials and Financial Needs. Available at: https://aasf.com.al/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AgritourismEN-Final.pdf  

Ministry of Finance and Economy. (2021). Economic Reform Programme 2021-2023 (2021). Available at: https://www.financa.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Economic-Re­form-Programme-2021-2023.pdf