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The implementation of the law "On the Fiscal Peace Agreement" continues to keep the debate about the risk of money laundering alive. In addition to international institutions, the implementation of the law is also seen as a risk for the capitalization of suspicious transactions by fiscal experts.
As the American Chamber of Commerce previously argued, the scheme for restatement of financial statements, without documentation to verify their origin, is seen as the main factor that increases the risk of its use for money laundering.
"There is an objective and high risk that this agreement will serve to legalize capital of unclear or potentially criminal origin."
The law allows for the redeclaration of cash and assets without the obligation to verify their origin, which contradicts the recommendations of Moneyval and the OECD BEPS task force.
"The lack of strong control mechanisms in accordance with anti-money laundering legislation directly undermines the credibility of our fiscal system in the eyes of the EU and the IMF," fiscal expert Julian Saraçi told Monitor.
According to him, the sector with the highest risk potential is construction, due to the high informality it carries.
Saraçi argues that the agreement to regulate a series of balance sheet items, including active, passive and cash items, risks creating a scheme for formalizing the balance sheets of construction companies for up to the last 3 years.
“The agreement allows for the adjustment of asset and liability items (such as cash, the write-off of liabilities, or the declaration of new assets) by a difference of up to 30% from the initial declaration.
A concrete example is the declaration of previously undeclared monetary assets, where the entity pays 5% and lists them on the balance sheet without supporting documentation.
Sectors with high informality, such as construction, can use this scheme to formalize differences in financial statements from the last 3 years. This practice risks becoming a tool for "cleaning" historical balance sheets.
Before the law went into effect, several international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union, and the American Chamber of Commerce, opposed its adoption, due to the risk of money laundering.
The American Chamber of Commerce, in particular, in one of its statements, raised the same concern of fiscal experts that the restatement of statements without supporting documentation creates a risk of money laundering.
"The law allows for the restatement of financial statements for the last five years, including the declaration of previously unreported cash, the write-off of liabilities, or the declaration of other unrecorded assets, without the need to justify them as accounting/tax errors or intentional non-declarations."
In any case, the differences are taxed at a reduced rate of only 5%.
This change to historical financial statements is permitted without supporting documentation or clear justifications, thus jeopardizing the fundamental principles of National and International Accounting Standards that require consistency and reliability of financial information.
The lack of obligation to verify the origin of funds creates the risk that capital with unclear or potentially criminal sources will be legalized through this scheme."
While the International Monetary Fund, in its closing statement after consulting on the agreement with Albania, assessed that the law on fiscal peace risks undermining previous progress in tax administration and compliance, the International Monetary Fund assessed.
The Financial Intelligence Agency (AIF) has also informed all entities that the law “On the Fiscal Peace Agreement” does not provide any kind of administrative or criminal immunity against taxpayers’ actions for money laundering, terrorist financing or any other criminal offense related to the illegal origin of funds or assets and therefore does not violate the implementation of any of the obligations of the law on the prevention of money laundering.
Initiation of the agreement and tax monitoring
Applications for the Fiscal Peace Agreement have been open since May 15. The application period began on Friday, May 15 and ends on June 5, 2026.
According to the instruction approved by the General Directorate of Taxes, businesses have been given about 22 calendar days to submit applications.
Applications will be made online in e-Filing where the “Application for Fiscal Peace Agreement” service has been created. For both cases, such as the conclusion of fiscal peace and the restatement of statements, taxpayers must complete the form online.
With the launch of applications, the Tax Administration announced increased controls and monitoring to prevent abuses and money laundering. The process will rely on risk analysis, information exchange with the Financial Intelligence Agency and the use of artificial intelligence./MONITOR
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