Rental income tax in Albania: what landlords pay and how to declare it

If you own a flat in Albania and let it, whether you live here or abroad, the rent is taxable in Albania. The rules are in Law no. 29/2023 on income tax and in guidance from the Albanian Tax Administration (DPT). This guide is for individual owners who let property without running it as a registered business. The facts were checked on 22 October 2026.

The rate

• Rent from immovable property is investment income (Law no. 29/2023, Art. 15(1)(dh)).
• Investment income other than dividends is taxed at 15% (Art. 24(3)). PwC’s tax summary, last reviewed in July 2026, gives the same rate.
• Unless the law says otherwise, no costs are deductible from investment income (Art. 24(4)). The tax is therefore 15% of the rent you receive, not of the rent minus repairs, furniture or mortgage interest.
• When several family members receive the income jointly, it counts as income of the family member with the highest annual taxable income (Art. 15(3)).

Business tenants withhold the tax

When a taxpayer (a company or a registered sole trader) pays rent to an individual, it must withhold 15% at source (Arts. 58 and 59). In practice:

• The tenant pays you the rent net of tax and reports it in its monthly withholding tax return, under “rent payments to individuals”.
• According to the DPT’s questions and answers on withholding tax, the return names the owner, by personal ID number, as the recipient, even when the rent is collected by a representative holding a notarised power of attorney.
• If the contract rent is lower than the minimum set by Council of Ministers Decision no. 469 of 3 June 2015, the tenant reports the contract rent but calculates the tax on the decision’s minimum value. The same applies when premises are lent free of charge.
• Businesses must upload the ownership document or the lease for every address where they operate. The DPT uses this to check withholding and to pre-fill individuals’ returns.

If you let to a company, write into the contract whether the agreed rent is gross or net of the tax.

Private tenants: the annual DIVA return

When you let to a private person, a student or another expat, nobody withholds the tax; you declare and pay it yourself.

• According to the DPT’s DIVA 2025 Q&A, individuals who received more than 50,000 lek a year of income on which no tax was withheld, rent included, must file the annual individual income return (DIVA).
• The DPT gives worked cases: an owner who let a flat to an individual for two months for 65,000 lek declares the rent in DIVA and pays 15% (DPT, February 2026); a pensioner receiving 5,000 lek a month from a friend living in the flat must also file, because the annual total exceeds 50,000 lek (DPT, March 2025).
• Deadline: 31 March of the following year (Art. 61). Income for 2025 was due by 31 March 2026, so rent received in 2026 is due by 31 March 2027.
• The return is filed online through your personal e-Filing account.

Even when a business has withheld the tax, you may still have to file DIVA, for example when your total annual income from all sources exceeds 1,200,000 lek (Art. 67). If in doubt, ask your regional tax office.

Owners living outside Albania

Income from immovable property located in Albania has its source in Albania (Art. 4) and is taxable here even when the owner is non-resident (Art. 2). The DPT says the same on its page on taxable income. How a non-resident files in practice, and how your country of residence treats the same income, are questions for a tax adviser.

Short lets: Airbnb and Booking

• The income tax law has no separate rate for short-term lets. The DPT names Booking and Airbnb among the income to declare in DIVA when it exceeds 50,000 lek a year and no tax was withheld (DIVA 2025).
• The DPT is preparing rules under the EU’s DAC7 directive, under which digital platforms will report income from letting property. It notes that platform reporting does not replace your own tax return; no start date has been set.
• When the owner is a registered taxpayer letting business premises, the rent is business income and taxed under those rules (DPT, question 6).
• If you let to tourists, also ask the municipality which registrations and local taxes apply.

Keep the paperwork

Keep a written contract (required by the Civil Code, Art. 803, for leases over one year) and proof of every payment. Our guide to the rental contract in Albania explains what to put in it.

This guide is for information only and is not tax advice; check your own situation with a tax adviser or the tax office.