"The CKB has received 3620 requests for business closure", Xixho accuses the government of taxing free professions: Mechanism to fill corruption pits

The vice-president of the Freedom Party, Erisa Xixho, commented again today on the taxation of free professions. In a statement to the media, Xixho states that since the entry into force of this tax, 35% of businesses have officially closed.

According to Xixho, this tax is the next mechanism that serves the massive depopulation of the country, while the businesses that remain in the market are forced to increase the prices of products, shifting the increased cost to the citizens. Xixho further adds that the Constitutional Court must first protect the interests of free professionals, canceling this tax on knowledge, which according to her the government has found as a mechanism to fill the holes created by corruption.

Full reaction:

Dear citizens, since January 1st, the new tax on free professions has been imposed as a burden on over 29,000 businesses in the country. This tax stimulates the brain drain, and particularly hurts highly sought-after professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and over 262 experts in various fields.

Since the entry into force of this tax, the National Business Center has received 3,620 requests for business closure. About 35% of businesses have officially closed their doors.

In the conditions of the decline in purchasing power, due to the price crisis, found in front of a new tax, approved with the force of the cardboard, without consultation with them, despite the consultations, the independent professionals see as the only solution, the closure of business and leaving the country.

This tax is the next mechanism that serves the massive depopulation of the country, as thousands of businesses close, those that remain in the market will be forced to raise prices.

Shifting the increased cost to the citizens.

The latter, who will face with extreme difficulty the doubling of living costs, will be forced to pay more for the services offered by doctors, lawyers, dentists, financiers, architects, IT. etc.

Other professionals will turn to informality in an attempt to escape the new fine imposed by the government. In this way, the informality of the Albanian economy, estimated at over 33% by international institutions, will continue to grow.

Albania has the lowest performance in the collection of public revenues, compared to the countries of the region. Albania collects 29.7% of the Gross Domestic Product, while the regional average is 38.1% of the Gross Domestic Product.

But this performance cannot be improved, squeezing small business while government clients are clearly favored. This tax, which directly affects the middle class, seriously damages the Albanian society.

Thousands of families lose their source of income, while the number of providers of a series of essential services will shrink. There are 29,000 self-employed businesses, which are affected by taxation at the rate of 15-23%.

About 3 billion more income will go to the government coffers from this tax. This government, which creates facilities only for its customers, punishes small businesses that regularly pay their dues with bankruptcy.

Albanian citizens cannot pay, whenever the government does not pay its bills, and it needs money to close its affairs. This money will go into the pockets of government customers, for concessions, and incinerators who have not worked a single day.

The Freedom Party is convinced that an unequal, dishonest taxation system in crisis conditions will seriously damage not only small businesses, but also the country's family economies.

Therefore, the Constitutional Court must first protect the interests of free professionals, canceling this tax on knowledge, which the government has found as a mechanism to fill the holes created by corruption.