International transport of passengers and goods. VAT 0% and place of supply.

Key points
  • International passenger transport from Albania to a destination outside it is subject to a zero rate of VAT.
  • The place of supply is the element that determines the treatment, so it is determined before invoicing.
  • Ticket agencies have their own treatment.
  • Continuous transport to the destination is treated as a single supply.
Verified on October 11, 2026. The treatment was compared with Law No. 92/2014, the provisions of the country of supply. Special Regimes, Source Page

Practical point. The first question isn't what the rate is, but where the supply is considered to take place. Once the location is determined, the rate becomes clear. Billing done without this step leads to subsequent corrections.

For agencies, the difference between selling on their own behalf and acting as an intermediary on behalf of the carrier changes the taxable base. When there are other mixed transactions, the deduction coefficient applies, according to our website. exclusions.

International passenger transport

Based on the Law No. 92/2014, dated 07.24.2014 “On Value Added Tax in the Republic of Albania,” as amended, the international transport of passengers from the Republic of Albania to a destination outside the Republic of Albania is a supply of services with a zero VAT rate.

The place of supply of passenger transport services, where passengers depart from Albania for a destination outside Albania without a stopover, is in Albania in proportion to the distance traveled, and as such the place of taxation is in Albania. This service in Albania is taxable at the 0% VAT rate based on Article 59 of the Law.

International passenger transport includes:

  1. Air or sea transport of passengers to a destination outside of Albania;
  2. Road transport of passengers whose destination is a country outside Albania.

International transport ticket intermediaries (agencies) and international passenger transport services

International passenger transport ticketing agencies, who act as transparent intermediaries and operate in the name and on behalf of another person pursuant to Article 62 of the Law, They provide ticketing services as agents for international passenger transport, charging VAT at the 0% rate.

Also, the provision of the service in the capacity of an agent for collecting and paying the fee for crossing the Republic of Albania's border by air, as a service ancillary to international passenger transport, is subject to 0% VAT.

International freight transport

The place of supply of goods transport services from a taxable person to a taxable person is at the recipient's location.

  • In the case where the recipient of international goods transport services is a taxable person in Albania, the place of supply of transport services is in Albania.

Warning!

In this case, this service is subject to VAT in Albania, regardless of the destination of the goods.

  • If the taxable person receiving the goods transport service destined for outside Albania is a taxable person outside Albania, then the place of taxation is in the recipient's country, and therefore it is not taxed in Albania.

Continuous transport to the destination.

  • In the case where international transport of goods is a continuous process involving the export of goods that are transported until their delivery to a destination located outside Albanian territory, then regardless of the country where the transport of the goods begins, This transport service is considered a service directly related to the export of goods and is subject to the 0% VAT rate. For this, the carrier must prove that it has performed the international transport service to a destination outside Albania for goods for which it verifies that the export procedure has been completed through the export declaration.

In the event that the transported goods have not gone to a destination outside Albania, the transportation service is taxable at 20%.

For the purpose of simplifying the procedure, enterprises that carry out international transport, but which for procedural reasons cannot provide the documentation required to prove the international transport, apply VAT 20% to the service, and the client is entitled to claim the VAT deduction in accordance with the activity they carry out.

Warning!

It does not qualify for the 0% VAT treatment, the supply of the international transportation service performed for a non-taxable person, such as the transportation of household goods outside Albania, tto an individual.

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Source: General Directorate of Taxes.

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About the author

Andi Haxhillari is an economist and the founder of AlProfit Consult, an accounting, tax advisory, and financial management firm in Tirana, established in 2015. He holds the professional title of Certified Accountant, certificate no. 359, issued by the Certification Authority of the Ministry of Finance on July 4, 2012. He graduated with a Master's degree in Accounting and as a General Economist from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tirana. For more than ten years, he has worked as an external economist for small and medium-sized businesses in Albania.

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