The “Albanian Manufacturing” Association has submitted six priority requests to the Ministry of Finance to be included in the Fiscal Package 2027, ranging from easing labor costs and reducing customs duties on raw materials, to exempting reinvested profits from corporate tax and creating a special grant scheme for technology and automation.

In the request addressed to the Minister of Finance, Petrit Malaj, and the Ministry of Economy and Innovation for information, the Association argues that the manufacturing industry is going through a difficult period, due to labor and production costs, exchange rate fluctuations, labor shortages, international competition and the need for significant investments in technology and automation.

According to the association, the process of integration into the European Union will also require Albanian companies to adapt to higher technological, environmental and organizational standards, increasing the need for supporting fiscal and financial instruments.

Harmonizing the non-taxable threshold with the minimum wage is the first proposal submitted by the association. The calculation of the tax on income from wages should start above the minimum wage level and this threshold should change automatically whenever the minimum wage changes. This measure would avoid the automatic increase in the fiscal burden on employees' income as a result of the change in the minimum wage and would have a particularly positive impact on sectors with high employment intensity.

Furthermore, the association calls for the easing of labor costs for sectors with high employment intensity. The association also calls for the increase in the fiscal depreciation rate from 20% to 40%. It is requested that the fiscal depreciation rate for machinery, equipment and production technology be increased from 20% to 40%. Accelerated depreciation would allow companies to recover their investments more quickly and would stimulate technological modernization, automation and productivity growth.

Also among the demands is the review of customs tariffs for raw materials. The association proposes reducing or eliminating customs tariffs for raw materials, materials, accessories and components that are not produced in Albania and that are used directly in the production process. The measure is particularly important for companies aiming to transition from the active processing model to full-cycle production and Albanian products with higher added value.

The association also demands the exemption of profit tax for the part of the profit that is reinvested. “We demand that the part of the company’s profit that is reinvested in the production activity be exempted from profit tax, when used for machinery, technology, automation, capacity expansion or other investments directly related to production,” the proposal states.

The proposal is based on the principle that profit that is reinvested, increases production capacities and creates development and jobs should be treated fiscally differently from profit that is distributed.

Finally, the association also requests the creation of a special grant scheme for technology and automation

“Albanian Manufacturing” requests that in the fiscal and budgetary policies for 2027 a dedicated grant fund be foreseen for the technological modernization of Manufacturing, for investments in advanced machinery, automation, robotics, digitalization, industrial software and energy efficiency.

The scheme could operate on the principle of state-business co-financing, by determining a percentage of the investment cost to be financed through the grant.