The individual annual income declaration, known as DIVA, is filed by the individual for themselves and not by the business, by March 31 of the following year. Obligation arises in three cases: annual income exceeding 1,200,000 lek; having two or more employers in the same year; and other income besides salary exceeding 50,000 lek.
This page addresses only the question of liability and deadlines. It explains how each threshold is measured, who is exempt from liability, why voluntary submission is often in the individual's interest, how to navigate e-Filing step by step, and what happens if the return is not filed. Deductions and rental income from investments are covered on the respective subpages.
Read also: Deductions for children, education, and recognized expenses..
The law ties the obligation to three situations. One alone is enough to give rise to the obligation, and when two coincide, the declaration remains a single one.
| Situation | How is it measured? | Obligation |
|---|---|---|
| Annual income over 1,200,000 lek | All the year's income, collected together | After |
| Two or more employers within a year | Number of employers within the same tax year | After |
| Other income over 50,000 lek | Only income other than salary, collected together. | After |
| An employer with an income of under 1,200,000 lekë and no other income. | All three conditions are met simultaneously. | Joseph |
| Individual with unclaimed refunds during the year | The discounts were not recognized by the employer. | Submission is the only way. |
Other income includes rent, deposit interest, dividends, honoraria, income sourced outside Albania, and gains from the disposal of property or securities. Income that the law explicitly excludes is not included.
An individual with a gross monthly salary of 95,000 lekë, i.e., 1,140,000 lekë per year, and rent of 5,000 lekë per month, i.e., 60,000 lekë per year. The salary threshold alone is not exceeded, because 1,140,000 lekë remains below 1,200,000 lekë. But the other income is 60,000 lekë, which is above 50,000 lekë, and that gives rise to the obligation. Both are included in the declaration, so 1,200,000 lekë in annual income.
Read also: Rental income and investments on the individual tax return.
An individual who during the year has had only one employer, annual income under 1,200,000 lek and other income under 50,000 lek, is not required to file. In this case, the payroll tax has been withheld and reported by the employer, and the year-end account is closed with the payroll registers.
An individual who has had no income at all during the year is not required to file. Likewise, an individual who has received only income exempted by law is also exempt from the obligation, because such income does not count toward the taxable base and does not affect the threshold.
Attention. A natural person who is a trader and a self-employed individual files the annual business return, which is a separate return. DIVA applies to the same person separately when he has personal income that falls into one of three cases.
When no liability arises, filing remains permitted and often beneficial. An individual who did not claim child or education deductions during the year receives the difference only if they file a return. Without filing, the excess tax paid is not automatically refunded.
The deadline is March 31 of the following year, the same deadline as for the annual business return. Submission is made only electronically, through the e-Filing portal, and paper submissions at the counter are not accepted.
In practice, the deadline requires work in January, not March. Certifications of tax withheld by employers and other payers are collected at the beginning of the year, because without those statements the return is completed with estimated figures.
Deadlines related to the individual declaration
| Deadline | What is being done? |
|---|---|
| January and February | Gather the verifications and supporting documents. |
| March 31 | Submission of the declaration and payment of the difference |
| Within 60 days of the request | Refund of overpaid tax |
| Within six months, at most twice. | Correction of the submitted statement |
Read also: The complete tax calendar of the year.
✔ Log in to e-Filing with your individual credentials, not your business ones.
✔ Select the annual individual declaration for the year you are filing.
✔ Check the employment income the system generates from payroll, employer by employer.
✔ Add other income, namely rent, interest, dividends, honoraria, foreign income, capital gains
✔ Claim personal, child, and education deductions based on the documentation you have.
✔ Report the tax withheld at source, according to certificates from employers and payers.
✔ Check the result: a payment obligation or an excess for reimbursement.
✔ Submit the declaration and keep the electronic confirmation along with the supporting documents.
Menu labels and the order of fields in e-Filing change with system updates. The steps above outline the completion logic, so the portal's current appearance is checked at the time of submission.
The individual declaration may be corrected within six months and no more than twice. This deadline is shorter than the general deadline for a revised declaration, so the review is carried out before submission and is not postponed.
Failure to submit the declaration within the deadline is punishable by a fine provided for in the Tax Procedure Law. For individuals, the fine is a flat rate that is lower than for businesses, but it is imposed automatically and without prior notice.
When the return would have generated a refund, failure to file carries a double cost: the penalty and the money left on the table. This is the most common scenario we see, because individuals think that not filing costs them nothing when there's no additional tax to pay.
Caution. The exact amount of the fine for individuals is not published on this page without the final review under Article 113 of Law No. 9920/2008 and the limit set in Article 111(5), under which the fine does not exceed 100% of the corresponding obligation.
The individual with two employers believes the statement does not apply to them because tax was withheld by each employer separately.
The 50,000-lek threshold is mistakenly applied to salary, whereas it applies only to income other than salary.
Changing jobs within the same year isn't recorded as two employers, and the requirement goes unnoticed.
The declaration is not filed because the individual does not expect any additional tax, and the outcome would have been a refund.
Withholding tax certificates are collected in March, so the return is completed with approximate figures.
Business credentials are used for the individual's statement, and the correct statement cannot be found on the portal.
The error is noticed after six months, when the correction period has ended.
An individual with an annual income exceeding 1,200,000 lek, an individual who has had two or more employers within the year, and an individual with other income besides salary exceeding 50,000 lek.
By March 31 of the following year, with electronic-only filing via e-Filing.
Annual income is 1,080,000 lekë, so below 1,200,000 lekë. If the employer is a sole proprietor and you have no other income above 50,000 lekë, no obligation arises. Filing remains beneficial if you have any unclaimed deductions.
Yes, because there were two employers in the same tax year. The annual recalculation is done by filing a return and often results in a refund.
No. Without income within the year, none of the three thresholds is met and no obligation arises.
No. The business statement covers income from operations. The individual statement applies to the same person when personal income falls into one of three cases.
Within six months of delivery and up to two times.
A penalty for failure to file is imposed, set at a fixed amount for individuals. The return must be filed anyway, because a delay does not eliminate the obligation nor forfeit the right to a refund.
Law No. 29/2023 “On Income Tax,” as amended, Article 10 on income categories, Article 11 on exempt income, Article 26 on refund within 60 days, Article 61 on the March 31 deadline, Article 67 on the obligation for individual declaration.
Law No. 9920, dated 19.05.2008 “On Tax Procedures,” as amended, Article 65 on electronic-only filing, Article 67(5) on correction within six months, Article 111(5) on the fine limit, Article 113 on the penalty for failure to file.
Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 922, dated December 29, 2014, on electronic declaration
General Instruction No. 26, dated September 8, 2023, as amended by Instruction No. 9, dated March 12, 2026
The text of Consolidated Law.
Income tax, General Directorate of Taxes.