Tax authorities “descend” to the field: inspections on underreported wages in the construction sector

The General Directorate of Taxes has announced that, starting from January 16, on-site inspections have begun to detect underreported wages, aiming to identify construction companies that do not declare the actual salaries of their employees.

The inspections will target only those entities that have not complied with the minimum wages set by the tax authorities as of December 1, 2025. Due to wage declarations being lower than the real amounts, last month the Tax Directorate published a list of wages for the construction sector according to each profession.

With the exception of sanitation workers, who will have a minimum wage of 60,000 lek, all other employees must not be declared with wages below 80,000 lek. This tax list automatically raises the average wage in the construction sector from 68,000 lek to 85,000 lek. Any business that does not comply with this tax decision will be considered at risk for underreporting and will be subject to inspections.

Announcement from the General Directorate of Taxes:

As part of the implementation of the Sectoral Plan for Construction and the increase of social security contributions, through the declaration of actual wages according to professions in the construction sector, the Tax Administration announces that, approximately 30 days after publishing the indicative wage list for this sector, on-site inspections will begin starting January 15.

The inspections will mainly focus on entities assessed as at risk of underreporting wages, which have previously been notified by the Tax Administration but have not reflected changes in payroll, despite electronic notifications sent to their accounts in the tax system, e-Filing.

The focus of the inspections will be verifying declared wages in payrolls by comparing them with indicative wages by profession, as provided in electronic accounts of taxpayers and published on the official website of the Tax Administration.

It is noted that any taxpayer who declares wages below the indicative wage level, or changes employees’ professions to avoid reporting actual wages thereby risking social security and pension contributions will be considered at risk and subject to inspections by the specialized structures of the Tax Administration.

The Tax Administration urges all taxpayers to take the necessary legal measures to accurately declare employee wages to avoid administrative and legal sanctions.

Below is the electronic message sent to taxpayers identified as at risk in the construction sector, dated December 15, 2025:

“Dear ...,

The Tax Administration has begun implementing the plan in the Construction Sector (construction processes and related activities), aiming to raise taxpayer awareness, and ensure timely and accurate reporting of tax obligations.

The Tax Administration holds data on you obtained from the APT, local government bodies, real estate agencies, tax declarations, monthly payrolls, self-declared fiscalized invoices, and information reported by your suppliers regarding goods and services supplied to you, among others."

The Tax Administration urges you to fulfill your obligations regarding the declaration of every employed worker, reporting real wages based on the profession and labor market, issuing fiscalized invoices for every sale or transaction including advance payments, purchasing goods or services with proper tax invoices, accurately declaring data in the Taxpayer Register, correctly reporting rental contracts for premises, and using only certified fiscal software.

Failure to comply with these obligations, or any behavior aimed at tax evasion identified through Tax Administration analyses, categorizes you as a high-risk taxpayer. As a result, verification and monitoring actions will be undertaken by the specialized structures of the Tax Administration.

Non-declaration of employees and underreporting of their wages is considered a serious violation as it undermines social security and pension guarantees. For this reason, any taxpayer assessed as high-risk will be subject to investigations and in-depth inspections of all their business processes, including transactions involving suspicious sources of income, in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies.

The Tax Administration trusts that you will understand and respect this notice, which aims not only to reduce informality in the economy but also to ensure social justice for your employees.

As part of the implementation of the sectoral plan for construction and the increase of social security contributions, through the declaration of actual wages for professions in this sector, the Tax Administration announces that approximately 30 days after the publication of the indicative wage list for construction specifically on January 15 on-site inspections will begin in entities assessed as high-risk for underreported wages. These entities were previously notified by the Tax Administration but have not reflected changes in payrolls, despite the initial electronic notification sent to their accounts via e-Filing.

The inspections will focus on verifying declared wages in payrolls by comparing them with indicative wages for each profession, as published on the official channels of the Tax Administration. Any taxpayer who declares wages below the indicative levels for the respective professions, or who changes employees’ professions to avoid reporting real wages—thereby risking social security contributions and employee pensions—will be considered high-risk and subject to inspections by the specialized structures of the Tax Administration.

The Tax Administration urges all taxpayers to take the necessary legal measures to declare employee wages accurately in order to avoid administrative and legal sanctions.

“KORÇA BOOM”