Personal Income Tax

Note on the legal basis, September 2026. This page refers to Law No. 8438 of December 28, 1998, on income tax, which is no longer in effect. It has been replaced by Law No. 29/2023. The content below is preserved for reference, but before you act, verify the current rule.
Personal income tax is calculated on the income of individuals.
  • Resident individuals are subject to the obligation for personal income tax during the tax period, for all sources of income.
  • Non-residents are subject to the personal income tax obligation during the tax period, for income sources realized within the territory of the Republic of Albania.
Taxable income:
  • salary and other benefits, in relation to current employment relationships;
  • income from the profit of a partner or shareholder in a commercial company;
  • income from bank interest or that earned from securities;
  • Revenue from copyright and intellectual property rights;
  • income from emphyteusis, loans, and rents;
  • income from the transfer of real estate ownership rights;
  • income from gambling and casinos;
  • income realized from the difference between the selling price and the purchase price of quotas or shares, which a partner or shareholder owns and sells to another person;
  • Monetary income for capital increases from sources outside the company, which have not been previously taxed, while having been subject to taxation and are not accompanied by official documents proving the origin of this income. Procedures are determined by instruction from the Minister of Finance.;
  • other income, not identified in the presented formats.
Withholding Tax on Income Incomes from employment relationships are taxed according to the table below: Payroll tax rate:
Salary Tax
0 - 30,000 0
30,001-150,000 13%over 30,000 lek
150,001 15,600 lek + 23% of the amount over 150,000 lek.
Every employer who pays an employee a salary or reward withholds personal income tax and remits the withheld tax to the tax authorities no later than the 20th day of the month following the payment. Persons resident in Albania, central and local government bodies, non-profit organizations, and any other entity recognized by applicable legislation are required to withhold tax at source at a rate of 15% on the gross amount of the following payments, that arise from a source in the Republic of Albania. Specifically:
  • dividends;
  • profit sharing;
  • interested;
  • copyright and intellectual property rights;
  • paid for technical services, management services, financial services, and insurance services;
  • paid for management and participation in steering committees;
  • paid for construction, installation, assembly, or supervision work related to them;
  • rent payments;
  • paid for the performances of actors, musicians, or athletes, for their performances;
  • Individuals' income from gambling and casinos. (download the law at the bottom of the page)
The payer of the amounts is required to keep records for the calculation and withholding of withholding tax for each income recipient and to make them available to the tax authorities and to the person who received the income for which the payment was made. The person resident registered for tax purposes who makes the payments provided for in Article 33 of Law No. 8438, dated December 28, 2006.1998, “On Income Tax,” as amended,” shall declare and pay the withholding tax at a rate of 15% of the gross payment amounts, by the 20th day of the month following the month of payment. An exception to this rule is the declaration and payment of withholding tax for:
  • dividends, as well as
  • for unpaid invoices for technical services, consulting, and management expenses, invoiced by third parties, for which withholding tax has not been paid by the taxpayer within the tax period.
Caution
  • For dividends, the declaration and payment of tax withheld at source is made by August 20 of each year, regardless of when the dividend payment to beneficiaries will be made.
  • For unpaid invoices for technical, consulting, and management services, the declaration and payment of withheld tax must be made by December 20 of the tax period, regardless of when their settlement will take place.
Tax is not withheld on payments made for:
  • resident Albanian individuals, registered as taxpayers for profit tax and value-added tax, or individuals registered as taxpayers for the local small business tax;
  • dividends and other profit distributions for participations legally exempt from profit tax;
  • payments made to non-residents for international passenger and freight transport services.
Source: General Directorate of Taxes.
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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