Albania sits 82nd out of 217 in our world ranking, with a FiScore of 5.9 out of 10. On paper there is nothing remarkable: a salary scale at 13% and 23%, VAT at 20%.
Except that an Albanian sole trader invoicing under about EUR 135,000 a year pays zero tax on business profit. That is not an obscure loophole, it is written into the law.
The zero, and its end date
Law 29/2023 on income tax, in force since 1 January 2024, sets at its article 69 a rate of 0% on business profit until 31 December 2029.
It applies to any sole trader, self-employed person or company whose annual turnover does not exceed 14 million lek, roughly EUR 135,000.
Hold on to that date. This is a transitional measure, not a permanent regime, and any article selling it to you without the deadline is lying by omission. From 2030 the ordinary regime resumes: 15% up to 14 million lek, 23% above.
The episode most English pages get wrong
The government tried to shut the door almost immediately, and a great deal of English-language content still describes the door as shut.
Decree 753/2023 excluded liberal professions from the scheme: doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects and similar. In other words, more or less everyone who might move there and work remotely.
The Constitutional Court struck it down, by decision no. 52 of 27 June 2024.
Liberal professions are therefore squarely inside the 0%, as long as they stay under 14 million lek. It is a settled point of law. If a page you are reading says otherwise, check its date: almost all of them predate the judgment.
What it looks like in practice
| Situation | Albanian tax on business profit |
|---|---|
| Self-employed, under ALL 14m a year | 0% until the end of 2029 |
| Above ALL 14m | 15%, then 23% on the excess |
| From 2030 | ordinary regime for everyone |
A consultant invoicing EUR 90,000 a year pays nothing on that profit for another three and a half years.
Set against the Serbian flat-rate regime, capped at about EUR 51,000, that is far more headroom. Set against Romania's 1% micro-company, it is better still while it lasts, and worse afterwards, because Romania's regime has no expiry written into it.
What it does not cover
Salary is not included. An Albanian employee is exempt up to 30,000 lek a month, then taxed at 13%, and at 23% above 186,416 lek a month.
Albania taxes its residents on worldwide income. You become resident through a permanent home in Albania, through having your centre of vital interests there, or by spending more than 183 days. Once resident, everything enters the base: dividends, rent, capital gains, pensions, wherever they arise.
The 0% covers the profit of your activity, not the rest of your wealth. That is the confusion that costs people money.
If you are American
Citizenship-based taxation applies regardless, and a 0% Albanian rate is the worst possible case for foreign tax credit: there is no Albanian tax to credit.
Self-employment income also raises the self-employment tax question, and there is no United States social security agreement with Albania to lean on. Read leaving the US and take advice specific to your figures: the headline zero is an Albanian zero, not a total one.
The drawbacks
The regime has an expiry. The end of 2029, and nothing says it will be renewed.
The administration is heavy and barely digitised. A local accountant is not optional.
The country is in neither the European Union nor the EEA, which matters for mobility and for some contracts.
The banking system is limited, and international payments sometimes take patience.
So, who is Albania for?
- A freelance invoicing up to EUR 135,000: probably the best ratio in Europe right now, and it runs to the end of 2029.
- A liberal profession: yes. The Constitutional Court settled that in 2024.
- Someone with wealth producing income: careful, Albania taxes a resident's worldwide income.
- An employee: the 0% is not for you, you are on the scale.
The full table of Albanian rates is on our Albania page, and the comparison tool puts it next to anywhere else. Before deciding anything, read how to actually leave.
Sources
Law 29/2023, decision no. 52 of 27 June 2024 of the Albanian Constitutional Court, and Albanian firms publishing on the transitional regime, verified in August 2026. An error reported to us gets fixed.
This page informs, it does not advise. A regime with an end date needs planning: talk to an Albanian accountant before you settle, as our terms of use set out.