Jorida Tabaku comes out against taxation for free professions, this is what she said before the judges in the session held today at the Constitutional Court

The session on the Taxation of Free Professions is held today in the Constitutional Court, a lawsuit filed by the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party and then followed by six other lawsuits by the Chamber of Advocates, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Institute of Accounting Experts, Professionals of Lire represented by lawyer Lulzim Allushaj and the Association of Driving Schools.
The representative of the DP Parliamentary Group is MP Tabaku, who was accompanied by MP Koliqi and lawyer Marash Logu.
In her opening speech, Tabaku stated that the government has not shown prudence in establishing fiscal policies, creating uncertainty in the lives and economic freedom of citizens.
"First, fiscal policies that are not sustainable in relation to the taxpayer that are made without any study or analysis is exactly the opposite of what we want to produce in terms of the security of life itself and well-being," said Tabaku in her opening speech at on behalf of the DP Parliamentary Group that filed the first Lawsuit in the Constitutional Court against this taxation.
Also, the democratic deputy emphasized that she is clear that the Constitutional Court cannot deal with the fiscal policies that are the attribute of the government and the parliament, but she insisted that the case in question is more of a matter of principle if the government can endanger legal security, economic freedom, disrupts competition and ultimately equality before the law of citizens. "In this sense, I do not expect the Constitutional Court to decide the salary level. It is not up to the Constitutional Court to assume an attribute of the Government, but at the same time of the parliament. Waiting for the Constitutional Court, based on decision 33, dated 08.06.2016, to see that the tax system is efficient; is it intended to prevent the use of monetary resources; is the tax system characterized by simplicity, clarity; is the way of conception and implementation of the tax system to improve it and considering that its recognition supports a high level of transparency from all stakeholders? In this way, the taxpayers will be aware of the tax they have to pay and we will ensure that the tax system does not reflect certain preferences.." said the deputy of DP, Tabaku, before the body of judges at the Constitutional Court.
Analyzing the government's behavior through fiscal policies, she argued that in fact this tax risks emptying Albania of brains even more as it kills competition and anathemas knowledge and the effort to improve oneself but also stigmatizes entrepreneurship especially in the field of free professions. "the brain tax, which hits the middle class by creating discrimination but also by adding a boomerang effect by creating schemes with fictitious expenses for businesses that will try to avoid these bills, will have the opposite effect of what the policy has government." said the democratic legislator while analyzing that "to become a legal auditor, we are taking the simplest one, you need 5 years of bachelor's, master's education, 3 years of auditing internship, 6 professional exams that are expensive and require study time. There is no basis or comparison plan with what the government says to compare it with other similar businesses"
I do not want to be more populist than necessary, said Jorida Tabaku as she closed her speech before the Constitutional Court, nor imposes on the Constitutional Court a burden that it does not belong to take, but in this case the constitutional arguments show that the differentiation for these two types of businesses that I mentioned and these two types of taxes has a clear way of how the Government has operated to impose this tax, discriminating against the self-employed who have an additional burden compared to all other types of businesses.
Full speech
 
Dear Ms. President, honorable judges,
As mentioned, on 28.02.2024, 37 deputies of the Assembly of Albania, no less than 1/5 of the members of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party, submitted a request to the Constitutional Court on the repeal of the article 24/ point 2 and article 69/ point 1/ letter dh of Law 29/2023 "On Income Tax". I will bring the arguments in the economic aspect and Mr. Logu will clarify why we believe that this law is not in accordance with the Constitution.
First, unsustainable fiscal policies in relation to the taxpayer that are made without any study or analysis is the exact opposite of what we want to produce in terms of our own security of life and well-being. Tax policies over the years have had a very large movement and a very high flux. Once 0%, 5%, 6%, 15%, 23%... creating an instability of fiscal policies that has affected and created uncertainty over life and profession as one does not know what awaits in the future. While their opposite effect with a minimum income in the state budget of almost 0.45% has brought a violation of legal security, worsening the economic situation of the taxpayer and contradicting the welfare state.
Considering these elements, the tax system which represents a complex and regulatory system plays an essential role in the economic growth and development of a country. In this sense, I do not expect the Constitutional Court to decide the salary level. It is not up to the Constitutional Court to assume an attribute of the Government, but at the same time of the parliament. Waiting for the Constitutional Court, based on decision 33, dated 08.06.2016, to see that the tax system is efficient; is it intended to prevent the use of monetary resources; is the tax system characterized by simplicity, clarity; is the way of conception and implementation of the tax system to improve it and considering that its recognition supports a high level of transparency from all stakeholders? In this way, taxpayers will be aware of the tax they have to pay and ensure that the tax system does not reflect certain preferences.
 
On the other hand, the brain tax which hits the middle class by creating a discrimination but also by adding a boomerang effect by creating schemes with fictitious expenses that will try to avoid these bills, will have the opposite effect that has government policies.
It is important to see what happens in these professions. every free profession is an investment spread over time, which means more energy, time, cost, education... To become a legal auditor, we are taking the simplest, you need 5 years of bachelor's, master's education, 3 years of internship auditors, 6 professional exams that are expensive and require study time. There is no baseline or benchmark against what the government says to compare it to other similar businesses.
Disobeying the law also leads to discrimination. Law 9901 regulates the organization of business and commercial companies, and the category of merchant includes all natural persons, regardless of their activity. As a consequence, freelancers are categorized differently from all other natural persons classified in this law and contradict the general law, making the tax law prevail over a law that regulates these professions.  
The last element I want to raise is the concept of the self-employed, which according to law 9901 is practically a business and the concept that in this case is confused with that of the employed. The self-employed person has unlimited liability to customers, suppliers, landlords… he pays all taxes and levies himself by running his business up to unlimited liability for his failure.
I do not want to be more populist than necessary, nor to impose on the Constitutional Court a burden that it does not have to take, but in this case the constitutional arguments show that the differentiation for these two types of businesses that I mentioned and these two types of taxes it is clear how the Government has operated to impose this tax, discriminating against the self-employed who have an additional burden compared to all other types of businesses.