The Albanian government has made the fiscal package for 2018, including introduction of VAT to small companies, sources said Saturday.

The decision was made at the Council of Ministers meeting late Friday, and is waiting for approval of the parliament, sources from the cabinet said.

According to the package, the government will introduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) scheme to small businesses. Around 6,000 small businesses with an annual turnover of more than 2 million leks (17,340 U.S. dollars) will be part of this scheme for the first time.

Meanwhile, Albanian citizens will pay 0.5 percent of building value for the property tax from Jan. 1, 2018, instead of a fixed tax as they are currently paying.

To boost the tourism sector, the government decided to exempt all the five and four star hotels across the country from taxes for a 10-year period.