Democracy Plus (D+) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Kosovo), with the support of the British Embassy in Prishtina, published the 2019 Kosovo Tax Administration (TAK) monitoring report.

During the presentation of the report’s findings, Visar Rushiti from D+, said that during this year the letters sent by BIRN regarding the involvement of TAK officials in politics resulted in the resignation of 32 TAK officials, either from politics or from TAK.

The Deputy Ambassador of the United Kingdom, Jacob Webber, said that the informal economy in Kosovo is at a high level and that this should be prioritized by TAK. He added that the British Embassy will TAK’s long-term partner for maintaining macroeconomic stability and combating the informal economy.

TAK General Director, Ilir Murtezaj, stated on this occasion that the Tax Administration of Kosovo has made progress in generating revenues. “For 11 months we have revenues of over 465 million Euros, or about 44 million euros more than last year,” he added.

Hekuran Murati from Vetevendosje Movement said that one of the main problems in TAK is personal income tax.

KALLXO.com Editor-in-Chief Kreshnik Gashi said that as a result of this project, after reporting on KALLXO.com, the citizens’ perception of the Kosovo Tax Administration has increased. “Tax auditing of businesses with ties to politics, with the past, has greatly influenced people to change their perceptions of TAK. The fact that businesses that had no tax audit for years have now been audited has had an impact on increasing public confidence,” said Gashi.

This is the second annual report for the Tax Administration of Kosovo and aims to increase the integrity of TAK and the oversight of this institution by civil society.