What changed in Albania

Practical registration steps once you actually relocate to Albania

Local registrations

Inheritance and gift tax applies at 15 percent, correcting claims that Albania has none

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

No net wealth tax and no charge simply for becoming an Albanian resident

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Crypto income goes through the ordinary annual return, and international reporting is catching up

Crypto tax and legal status

Albanian law names mining and staking explicitly, and defaults them to business income

Crypto tax and legal status

Crypto disposal gains are taxed by folding them into the ordinary income tax law, not by a dedicated crypto tax rule

Crypto tax and legal status

Crypto is legal and regulated in Albania under a dedicated 2020 law, though licensing took longer than the law itself

Crypto tax and legal status

Register through QKB before you invoice anyone, and watch the ALL 10 million VAT threshold

Moving your company

Certified agritourism and agricultural cooperative businesses pay 5 percent profit tax through 2029

Moving your company

The famous 5 percent tax rate for Albanian software companies expired at the end of 2025

Moving your company

Owning a low-tax foreign company passively while Albanian tax resident can get its profit attributed to you personally

Moving your company

A locally incorporated Albanian company pays a flat 15 percent, or 0 percent under the small business ceiling

Moving your company

An ordinary remote employee is not who the place of effective management rule is aimed at

Permanent establishment risk

Running any company's real management from Albania can make the company itself Albanian tax resident

Permanent establishment risk

Severance kicks in after 3 years of service, and unlawful dismissal can be challenged

Dismissal protection

Probation runs up to 3 months, then notice periods scale from 2 weeks to 3 months with tenure

Employment law

Most residents and visitors carry private insurance alongside or instead of the public system

Healthcare coverage

Public healthcare access runs through registered employment or self-employment, not through your residence permit

Healthcare coverage

A Dutch pension does not automatically escape Dutch tax just because you retire to Albania

Pension

Albanian pension contributions may not transfer anywhere without a totalization agreement

Pension

No social security agreement between the Netherlands and Albania could be confirmed

Social security

Albanian social contributions only bite on Albanian source work, not on foreign remote income

Social security

Self-employed contributions are calculated on the minimum salary, not on what you actually earn

Social security

Albanian payroll contributions run 11.2 percent from the employee and 16.7 percent from the employer

Social security

Taking money out of an Albanian company costs 8 percent dividend withholding, well under Dutch rates

Personal income tax

Foreign source income of a non-resident sits outside Albania's tax net entirely

Personal income tax

No non-dom status to chase, the ordinary small business and salary rates are already the offer

Personal income tax

The Netherlands Albania treaty exists and is in force, so double taxation has a real remedy

Personal income tax

Under 183 days with a Dutch employer, your salary stays taxable only in the Netherlands

Personal income tax

Self-employed and small business income under ALL 14 million a year is taxed at 0 percent until the end of 2029

Personal income tax

Employment income is tax free up to ALL 50,000 a month, then 13 percent, then 23 percent above ALL 200,000

Personal income tax

One dominant client can get your freelance income reclassified as employment, at 13 to 23 percent instead of 0

Personal income tax

Albania tried to tax freelancers at 15 to 23 percent in 2024, the Constitutional Court struck it down, and freelancers are back to 0 percent

Personal income tax

Holding an Albanian residence permit and being an Albanian tax resident are two different questions

Tax residency

The Netherlands Albania tax treaty has a tie breaker if both countries claim you as resident

Tax residency

Unlikely to become an Albanian tax resident on a short, tie free stay

Tax residency

A home, family or your main economic activity in Albania can make you resident before you hit 183 days

Tax residency

Past 183 days in the calendar year you become an Albanian tax resident on worldwide income

Tax residency

EU citizens get a free 5 year Registration Certificate, a materially easier route than other nationalities get

Immigration and visa

Working remotely on plain visitor status sits in an undocumented grey area

Right to work

The Unique Permit is the compliant route for remote workers staying past 90 days

Right to work

Past 90 days without a US passport, you need the Unique Permit or another residence route

Immigration and visa

A US passport really does get a full year in Albania, this is the one case where the internet has it right

Immigration and visa

The one year visa free stay you read about in Albania is a US only deal, not for Dutch or EU passports

Immigration and visa

Dutch citizens get 90 days visa free in Albania, not the full year some blogs promise

Immigration and visa