- As of January 2024, the small business submits its payroll every month, no longer every quarter.
- The same deadline, the 20th of the following month, also applies to social security contributions, health insurance contributions, and the tax on employment income (TAP).
- Law No. 8438 of December 28, 1998, mentioned in the original notice, is no longer in force. Today the legal basis is Law No. 29/2023, However, the practical monthly deadline rule continues to apply unchanged.
- Failure to submit by the deadline constitutes a tax violation and is subject to an administrative penalty.
As of January 2024, taxpayers classified as small businesses submit their payroll list monthly, no longer in quarterly periods. The General Directorate of Taxes communicated this change directly to each taxpayer's eFiling account. The same deadline—the 20th of the following month—also applies to the payment of social security contributions, health insurance contributions, and income tax on employment (TAP). The first return under this rule was the January 2024 payroll, with a deadline of February 20, 2024.
From our daily work, we still see businesses that confuse this with the old quarterly rule or think that the May 20 deadline applies only to the payroll list, forgetting that the same deadline also applies to contributions and TAP. Delays in any one of them are treated as a separate tax violation.
Why does it matter today?
The monthly filing rule was not a temporary notice, but it remains the way payroll reporting for small businesses works today. As we have also confirmed in Payroll tax in Albania, The payroll is submitted by the 20th of the following month, and this remains the case even in 2026. Only the legal basis cited changes, not the practical deadline that businesses must meet each month.
Below is the original notice from the General Directorate of Taxes, as it was displayed to taxpayers in their eFiling account in February 2024.
Dear Taxpayer,
Through this message, the Tax Administration informs you that under the new law of “Income Tax”, You will have to declare the list of pages every month, not anymore in 3-month periods!
The same deadline, every month, also applies to the payment of Social Security and Health Insurance contributions, as well as to the Tax on Employment Income (TAP).
The deadline for submitting the payroll and making the payment is the 20th of the following month. Your first filing is the January 2024 payroll, with a deadline of February 20, 2024.
Caution!Failure to comply with the new legal deadlines for filing and payment constitutes a tax violation and is subject to an administrative penalty. Thank you.
Source: efiling.tatime.gov.al.
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