The government gives up on the fiscal stamp concessionaire, in 12 years the company's revenues reach 110 MILLION euros!

On December 31, 2024, the additional deadline for the concession contract for fiscal stamps on excise goods with the company " SICPA Security Solutions Albania " ends.

In January 2023, Parliament approved a 2-year extension of implementation, scheduled to end in February 2023, and revised the fee paid by businesses, with a 10% reduction from the previous fee.

For 12 years, respectively for the period 2012 to 2023, the revenues of the concessionaire company "SICPA Security Solutions Albania", which are realized from the production and distribution of fiscal stamps for businesses that trade in excise goods, according to the balance sheets submitted to the Central Tax Office, amount to 10.8 billion lek or about 110.5 million euros.

At the start of its activity, the revenues of the company "SICPA Security Solutions Albania", according to the Central Bank's balance sheets for 2012, were 7 million euros and 8 million euros for 2013.

Throughout these 12 years, the highest revenues collected from the production and distribution of fiscal stamps resulted in 2022. The company recorded 10.2 million euros in revenue during this period.

For 2023, the company's revenues reach 8.2 million euros or 19.6% less than the previous year.

The decrease in revenue volume is related to the reduction in the sales price under the terms of the renewed concession contract, which brought a 10% reduction in the tariff in 2023.

For the period 2012-2015, the company reported losses of around 3 million euros, while subsequently increasing profits, peaking in 2019 at 2.1 million euros. For the period 2016-2019, the company declared profits totaling 5.9 million euros.

The company's profit for 2023 was 362 thousand euros from 2 million euros in 2022. From 2016 to 2023, the company's profits amounted to 12.2 million euros.

Debates over the concession term and the high fee

Several debates have been sparked over the implementation of the concession contract over the years.

First, the date of commencement and completion of the contract remained unclear.

The concession contract for the affixing of fiscal stamps on excise goods was signed by the previous government in 2012 for a period of 10 years.

The fiscal stamp duty fee from businesses began to be paid in 2012, but the effective date of the contract was set as February 6, 2023.

The working group established with experts from the Ministry of Finance and the State Attorney's Office, after consulting a series of documents and minutes of previous meetings, reached the conclusion to determine the effective date of the contract, February 6, 2013, and February 6, 2023 as the date of termination of the contract.

The conclusions also determined that August 6, 2022, was the starting date of the asset exit and inventory period.

But the effective date of the contract's commencement was contested by the concession company, which according to its claims, the effective date of the contract coincided with the start of the implementation of the unfulfilled component, which was the affixing of fiscal stamps on medicines.

"With the strengthening of this element, the contract implementation deadline was extended for another 10 years," company representatives previously claimed.

The implementation of the high tax stamp tariff, almost 8 times higher than the average price of tax stamps in Europe, was facing strong opposition from businesses producing and trading excise goods, which were charged an annual duty of up to 1 million euros, while the imposition of the stamps failed to solve the problems with illegal trade and informality.

In the country, the previous fiscal stamp tariff reached 22.4 USD per 1,000 pieces, while in Europe the average price of fiscal stamps is 3 USD per 1,000 pieces, in Kosovo 2.2 USD.

After all these debates, 1 month before the end of the official deadline, in order to avoid the parties having to face each other in the Court of Arbitration, the government proposed to the Parliament for approval a draft law to extend the deadline for another 2 years and reduce the fee by 10%.

" This draft law aims to amend and conclude the concession contract, approved by Law No. 10381, dated 24.2.2011.

The amendment of this additional contract will enable: the continuity of this service in the field of fiscal control in the Republic of Albania even after 6.2.2023, the date when this contract ends;

Termination of the contract

The law stipulates that the term of the concession contract ends on 31.12.2024.

During this period, the concessionaire company is committed to making an investment ranging from 3 to 5 million euros, according to schedules that will be detailed with respective deadlines in the Contract Management Board. The draft law will address the resolution of the issues of the concession contract, for the design, financing, manufacturing and establishment of a system for the issuance, distribution, tracking and monitoring of fiscal stamps and drug control stamps, approved by law no. 10381, dated 24.2.2011, and, apart from the positive effects mentioned above, does not carry any negative effect or fiscal risk for the Albanian state. ”.

From January 2025, fiscal stamps are expected to be produced by the securities printing house, which is a joint stock company with the Ministry of Finance as a shareholder./ Monitor