Remarks on New Tax Administration Guidelines

Remarks by USAID/Albania Mission Director, Roberta Mahoney
USAID Tax Administration Seminar
January 28, 2009

Good afternoon Honorable Mayors, Minister Bode, Deputy Minister Poni, ladies and gentleman
It is a pleasure to open this workshop today, to introduce the Guidelines on the Improvement of Tax Administration in Albania.

The US Mission in Tirana through USAID has supported Albanian decentralization for over 15 years. We do this for a very important reason -- to bring government closer to its citizens.

Today we are here in support of tax reform -- or fiscal decentralization – to allow local governments to raise money to improve local services. The authority given to municipalities and communes to set tax rates will increase local autonomy but also make the government more accountable to the community.  In short, fiscal decentralization means money will be collected where it will be used.

USAID would like to thank both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior for their cooperation and support for this manual. Over the past year, you have provided valuable inputs that have helped develop these Guidelines, which we believe, will be very useful in tax administrator’s daily work.

As mentioned, the set of Guidelines that is being introduced today will help local governments improve the collection of taxes.  With better collection, increased revenues will be used to improve infrastructure and provide better services to local citizens.  Government will be closer to its citizens.

I believe we are all aware that while local governments are taking more responsibilities, financial resources to cover the increasing demands of the citizens for better services and capital investments continue to be limited. 

Therefore, municipalities need to work hard to effectively collect and administer taxes and municipal revenues to ensure citizens demands are met even when demands seem to grow faster than financial resources.

This is the essence of local governance – setting priorities locally; collecting taxes locally; and procuring services locally.

These Guidelines will help tax administrators throughout Albania to better understand the legal framework on local taxes and fees, and also do a better job to improve performance in the collection and administration of local taxes.

While there is much yet to do, this is a very important step forward. And this publication is the guide to improved performance. Local governments that use these tools will be able to provide better public services to their citizens, and enhance their ability to operate independently and effectively as modern local self-governing units.

USAID is proud of the excellent cooperation with the Central and Municipal Governments on the decentralization reform. We’ll continue our support because we believe --as do you -- that an elected government close to the people is a more open, transparent and accountable government.

I wish you success, thank you!