Smuggling Grows in the North

So it was said at a table organised by the American Economic Oda in Kosovo on “Fighting IT so far and the road ahead of”, where it was stressed that the north is growing.

The director of the Kosovo Tax Administration, Sakip Imrei, said that in fighting the phenomenon of the informal economy, all institutions that have inspectors have their responsibility to help ATK.

According to him, only joint work with other institutions with the labour, health and other inspectorate that regulate their management can make it easy to compete and fight the informal economy.

“31 percent of the Local Productive Bruto, of course it's an extremely high percentage that leaves a lot of work for institutions, for ATK, the priority of this study is that it has established countries and sectors where there are more to the formality. From the sectors where the greatest risk has been estimated is where cash, where cash is dominated, where the work of institutions should be shared for the defeat of menaga. An estimated 9m euros in losses generated by the construction sector -- solely from undeclared work -- the involvement of workers who are not declared in the tax system”, Imer said.

According to him, there is huge disrepute among the trade sector, which receives more loans with rapid returns rates, while it is not instructed about what the loan is taken that is a stock market for ATK and other institutions.

OECH Chairman Arian Zeka has said that despite the control of border points 1 and 31 of the northern part, smuggling areas are increasing.

The informal economy has been one of the main threats from serious businesses in this country. This has, of course, affected not only an unfair competition but impacted in cutting in revenues which are collected for the country's budget ... The incidents we receive from member businesses repeatedly suggest that there is a large presence of the informal economy. What we've noticed is that over the past two years, despite the control of two border crossings even in the northern part of the country known as point 1 and 31 we've noticed and from the information we've received from businesses an increase of smuggling from this part of these products obviously ends up in the southern part of the country .”, Zeka said.

According to him, much of these products are once again fuel or other products that bring greater benefits to smugglers.

Kestrin Kumonova of the Gekos company has said that half of the businesses remain unregistered and that this affects the increase in rates of informity.

There has been no willingness for eight years to complete the fiscalisation process. Fisscalization had to be completed some 3-5 years after the beginning, but we're entering the 9th year and fiscalization is still not complete. Currently classified are about 26 thousand businesses with about 34 thousand fiscal equipment, while businesses registered in the ATK are about 50,000. About half of the businesses are unregistered, and this certainly contributes to the high degree of formalism in”, Kumnova said.

According to him, the oil issue has been more problematic for three years and the problem remains not to tax taxis, which have about 6m euros in circulation, the KDS, which according to him, is free for the release of fiscal electricity vouchers and others.

While Hyesn Lajci of the HIP Petrol company has said that the figures in the formality of 31.7 % of the BPV have to do with formalism is indeed a very large figure compared to that Kosovo is a very small, non-competitive economy compared to regional economies.

He said that the import of oil used for heating is damaging pollution, as is the oil market.