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INCOME-TAX  REFORM  MUST NOT AFFECT TEACHERS’ SALARIES

The discussion about the income-tax reform, that the Government plans to implement starting from July 2007, has involved also massively the teachers and trade unions as representatives of their interests.
But, what is the new system of income-tax (so called “flat tax”) and how does it affect teachers’salaries?
According to the version prepared by the Ministery of Finance, annaunced  also as a goal from the Government, the salary of each employee, in public and private sector, including all the employees of preuniversity education, will be charged 10 percent income – tax, starting from the first of July this year.
This income-tax amount on low and relatively low salaries, where teachers of preuniversity education sector are included, affect directly the neto salary  they are geting actualy.
To make it more clear, we compare the income-tax that a teacher pays, on the basis of the actual sytem, with the one he will have to pay, when the new system of paying 10 percent for everybody, will come to be implemented. As a basis for this comparison are taken the lowest salaries, the medium ones and the highest bruto salary that teachers of this system earn actualy.
The lowest bruto salary in preuniversity education for young teachers who starting for the first time this job, in primary school, is 25.160 Albanian leke. Applying the tarifs actualy in power, according to which the salaries up to 14.000 leke are taxed 1 percent, that means 140 leke, and the difference from 14 000 to 25160 equal to 11.160, is taxed 5 percent, in total 558 leke, means that the teacher included in this group pays 698 leke.
After the implementation of the new system, the teacher with the lowest salary will pay 2.516 leke or 1.818 leke more, compared to the amount he is paying actualy. So the implementation of this income-tax amount decreases the neto salary of the teachers getting the lowest salaries by 8.4 percent.
The avarage salary in primary and secondary education actualy is 30.171 leke. The teachers included in this category pay an income - tax of 950 leke, but, after the implementation of the new system, they will pay 3.017 leke, or 2.067 leke more, compared to the income - tax they are paying actualy.
Lastely, teachers getting actualy a maximal gross salary, 35 185 leke are paying an income – tax of 1 204 leke, meanwhile after the implementation of the new system, they will pay 3 518 leke, or 2 314 leke more, compared to the amount they are paying actualy.
So, the introduction of this new system, decreases the neto salary of the teachers getting the avarage and maximal salary by at least 7.6 percent.

Under these conditions, the education trade unions FSASH and SPASH, have asked to the Ministry of Education and Science and to the Ministry of Finance that the aplication of the “flat icome – tax” of 10 percent over the salary, mus not affect the actual level of the neto salary that teachers are getting.
The negotiations have started with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance. FSASH and SPASH are waiting for the conclusions of the survey which is going on, but they express their determination to protect the salary that teachers are getting actualy, also insisting that each increase of the income-tax over the gross salary must be compensated by the increase of respective neto salary.

 

PRESS RELEASE OF FSASH AND SPASH

ON THE NEW SYSTEM OF INCOME - TAX

Both Albanian education trade unions, FSASH and SPASH, organise this press conference to make public their attitude related to the implementation of the new income-tax system in the education sector and its consequences on teachers of preuniversity education salaries.

FSASH and SPASH, during these last months, have followed with attention and concern the intention of the Government to introduce a new system of income-tax in public and private sector and the consequences of this system on the salaries of the trade unionists, we protect.
We have presented our concerns to the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as to the high leaders of the Ministry of Finance. But the Government, even without any promised negotiation, considers this new system as a reality.
The introduction of this new system of income-tax affects directly and in a sensitive measure the salaries of around 36 000 employees from the preuniversity education.
To make more clear this affection, it is enough to point out that the lowest salary in the preuniversity education for a young teachers who starts this job for the first time in the primary school is 25 150 leke, meanwhile for a teacher who starts the job in the secondary education is 28 150 leke. This category of teachers, despite the fact that the Government declares not to impose any tax for the part of the salary up to 10 000 leke, will pay an additional amount of income – tax from 900 to 1 000 leke per month, compared to the amount they are paying actually. The number of this category is more than 10 000 teachers.
At the same time a bigger affect will have the new system of income-tax for other 25 000 teachers who have a working experience more than 15 years in primary education and over 8 years in secondary education. All of these categories actually get a gross salary over 30 000 leke, as a consequence, according to the calculations they will loose around  2 100 leke.
Almost the same amount will loose also teachers of primary education who have more than 15 years working experience.
Under these conditions, FSASH and SPASH, official partners of the Ministry of Education and Science, also being members of the National council of Labour, being determined to protect teachers’ salaries, demand from the Ministry to start immediately the negotiations and find a solution in order to compensate the decrease of the actual level of teachers’ salaries, by introducing the new system of income-tax.
The Education trade unions will not accept any decrease of the actual neto teachers’ salary, because of the new system of income-tax. They insist that this compensation to be done before the increase of the salaries, expected to be introduced by the 1st of July.

 
FOR THE TRADE UNION FEDERATION     FOR THE INDEPENDENT TRADE
OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE               UNION OF ALBANIAN
XHAFER DOBRUSHI                           EDUCATION
KRYETAR                                                  BAJRAM KRUJA
                                                                   KRYETAR