You become an Albanian tax resident when you meet any one of five legal tests, not only when you spend 183 days here. A home you live in, your family, or an office you work from can make you resident with fewer days. A resident is taxed in Albania on worldwide income, with a credit for tax paid abroad.
Check your own case
Answer the questions and add the periods you spent in Albania. The tool counts the days and shows which test, if any, makes you resident. The prefilled period is this article's example.
Are you an Albanian tax resident?
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This applies the tests in article 8 of Law 29/2023 to one calendar year. It does not calculate tax and does not apply any treaty.
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Official source: Albanian tax authority, resident individualsThe five tests in article 8
Article 8 of Law no. 29/2023 on income tax says you are resident if you meet one of the conditions below during the tax year. The tax year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. The ministry's instruction explains each condition. The tax office's page on residents lists the same five.
Citizenship on its own is not a test, except under letter "c". A foreigner can be resident, and an Albanian living abroad may not be.
If you have a permanent home in two countries, for example Albania and Italy, the instruction says you are resident where your centre of vital interests is: your family and economic ties. If residency still cannot be settled, the instruction refers to the international agreements Albania has signed.
How the 183 days are counted
The law says the day of arrival and the day of departure each count as a day of presence. The instruction adds that every day of physical presence counts, not only working days: holidays too. It gives this official example: someone arrives on 30 March 2022 and stays until 10 October 2022. They are resident for 2022. The instruction does not give the number; by our count it is 195 days.
Illustrative example: a remote worker with an employer abroad arrives in Tirana on 1 February 2026 and leaves on 31 July 2026. That is 181 days, so the 183-day test is not met. But she signed a 12-month lease on the flat she lives in and no longer has a home in her own country. On the instruction's explanation, that is a permanent home, test "a". She is resident for 2026, even with 181 days. Had she left on 2 August, she would have had 183 days and met test "b" as well.
What changes when you are resident
Article 2 of the law is clear: a resident is taxed on income from all sources, inside or outside Albania. A non-resident is taxed only on Albanian-source income, and on income linked to a permanent establishment here. The tax office's page on non-residents describes them as people who meet none of the residency conditions.
- Salary from a foreign employer, work done in Albania: under the instruction, a resident declares this income and pays the tax here. If Albania has a double tax treaty with that country, the treaty applies.
- Work done outside Albania for a foreign employer: the treaty applies, if there is one. If not, a resident declares it as employment income and credits the tax paid abroad.
- Foreign tax: credited against the Albanian tax on the same income, never more than the Albanian tax would be, and worked out separately for each country (article 25).
- Annual return: filed by 31 March of the following year (article 61). Someone who changes tax residency declares the income earned up to the date of the change.
The tax office's cases from practice add two situations. A foreigner working here temporarily, under 183 days in the year, for a non-resident employer with no permanent establishment or fixed base in Albania, is according to the tax office taxed on that salary only in their country of residence. Both conditions must be met at the same time. And a foreign student is not taxed here on income from outside Albania. These cases do not switch off the other tests: if you have a home or your family here, check those too.
Diaspora coming home
For Albanians who have lived abroad, the question is not only how many days they spend here. If you settle in a home in Albania to live in it, or your family and economic interests move back, tests "a" or "d" can make you resident without reaching 183 days.
A house in Albania you only use on holiday is not described as a permanent home in the instruction. The instruction links a permanent home to the place you live in and keep for permanent use. If you also have a home abroad, the centre of vital interests decides.
Foreign artists: 24 months outside residency
Law no. 81/2025 added letter "dh" to article 8. Artists who are not Albanian citizens are not treated as tax resident for 24 months from their first entry into Albania, even if they meet the other tests. Instruction no. 9/2026 adds that the period keeps running during temporary absences and does not restart when you leave and come back. If the tax office asks, the artist must prove the first entry and the period of stay.
How Pivot helps
We look at your facts for the year and tell you whether you are resident, and under which test. If you are, we prepare your annual return with the foreign income and the foreign tax credit. If you are also resident somewhere else, we check what the treaty with that country says.
Ask us to review your residency and your return. Related: Albanian tax residency certificates and the right request.
Official sources and period
- Tax administration: resident individuals
- Tax administration: non-resident individuals
- Tax administration: cases from practice
Sources: Law no. 29/2023 on income tax, as amended, including Law no. 81/2025, articles 2, 6, 8, 25 and 61; Instruction no. 26 of 8.9.2023, as amended, points 2.1, 2.3, 4.1, 4.7, 4.8 and 8.1 to 8.9; Instruction no. 9 of 12.3.2026, point 1 (new point 8.9 with example 1). Checked on 28 October 2026. The remote worker example is illustrative; the 30 March 2022 and singer examples come from the instructions.
