Working in Albania: no work permit, a registration, and what you pay in contributions and tax
Since 2025 a Dutch citizen no longer needs a work permit in Albania: an EU citizen has the same right to work as an Albanian. You register as an employee or self-employed person within three months. On your salary you pay social contributions and income tax: nothing up to 50,000 lek a month, 13 percent above that, and 23 percent above 2,040,000 lek a year. A business of your own is registered with the QKB.
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As a Dutch citizen you work in Albania without a work permit. Since the 2025 amendment an EU citizen with legal residence has "the same right to work as Albanian citizens" (article 80 of the Law on Foreigners). You need no permission from AKPA, the Albanian employment agency, and there is no test of whether an Albanian is available for the job. You do register within three months as an employee or self-employed person. On your salary you pay social contributions and income tax.
What do you arrange to be allowed to work?
- Your registration as an EU citizen, within three months of arrival, on the ground of "work". You show an employment contract or a statement from your employer. See the residence routes to Albania.
- A notification of the work through e-Albania, the Albanian government portal. The law refers to the section for the "single permit"; ask your employer how they handle it.
- Your enrolment with the gjendja civile, the civil registry, once you have your certificate.
Only positions that require Albanian nationality are closed to you. The old system with a single permit (leje unike), a contract in Albanian and a wait of 4 to 12 weeks applies to employees from outside the EU, no longer to you.
What do you earn in Albania?
Since 1 January 2026 the minimum wage is 50,000 lek gross a month, about € 550. The average gross wage in the second quarter of 2026 was 92,150 lek, about € 1,015 a month. A quarter of employees earn the minimum wage. With an Albanian job, expect a salary far below the Dutch level.
Which contributions and tax do you pay?
| What | Rule or amount |
|---|---|
| Social contributions, employee and employer together | 27.9 % of gross pay: 24.5 % social insurance and 3.4 % health |
| Health contribution | 1.7 % from you, 1.7 % from your employer |
| Income tax on pay up to 50,000 lek a month | in effect nothing, through an allowance |
| Pay up to 2,040,000 lek a year (about € 22,500) | 13 % |
| Pay above that | 23 % |
| Extra allowance per child under 18 | 48,000 lek a year |
| Profit of a self-employed person up to 14,000,000 lek | 15 % |
How the 24.5 percent social contribution is split between you and your employer is not stated on the website of the ISSH, the Albanian social insurance institute. Check your payslip. The allowance on your pay shrinks as you earn more: 600,000 lek a year on pay up to 600,000 lek, less above that.
Albania taxes you as a resident on your worldwide income. You are resident if you spend 183 days or more of the year in Albania, or if you have a permanent home there. A home you rent for at least six months already counts. You file your return before 31 March of the following year.
Are you starting your own business?
Then you register your business with the QKB (Qendra Kombëtare e Biznesit), the Albanian business register. You then receive a NIPT, your business's tax number. With proof of your activity and your NIPT you register as a self-employed EU citizen. As a self-employed person you pay:
- Social insurance: 23 percent of the minimum wage, so 11,500 lek a month (about € 127).
- Health: 3.4 percent of twice the minimum wage, so 3,400 lek a month (about € 37).
- Income tax: 15 percent on profit up to 14,000,000 lek, and 23 percent above that.
You pay the contributions before the 20th of the following month. For non-EU citizens a business of their own requires a business plan, a committee review and at least 500,000 lek in start-up capital. Whether any of that remains for an EU citizen has not been officially confirmed. Ask the QKB or an Albanian adviser.
Do you work remotely for the Netherlands?
Then you are not working for an Albanian employer. You will probably register on the ground of "own means", with an Albanian health policy; the law does not say whether remote work counts as work or as own means. As a resident, Albania also taxes you on that pay. Which country may tax it under the 2004 tax treaty is something to have checked; see AOW, pension and tax in Albania.
What if your job ends?
You will not receive a Dutch WW unemployment benefit in Albania: people living outside the Netherlands are not entitled to it. Albania has its own unemployment insurance, for which you pay contributions through your salary. Whether and for how long you are entitled to it, we have not read in an official source.
Your registration rests on your work. If you lose it, you may be able to continue on the ground of "own means", if you have enough money and an Albanian health policy. We found no fixed rule for this: ask the migration service.
Does your diploma need to be recognised?
For most jobs, no. For professions with their own professional registration, such as in healthcare, education or law, possibly yes. We found no official list of them. Ask your employer or the professional body in Albania which papers you need, and bring your diplomas with an apostille.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Albania or go straight to step 2.3 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Ligj 79/2021 "Për të huajt", consolidated with law 43/2025 — article 33/1 (registration) and article 80 (work without AKPA permission) — asp.gov.al
- Ligj 29/2023 on income tax, consolidated — articles 8, 22 and 24 (residence, allowance and rates) — tatime.gov.al
- ISSH — compulsory social insurance, with 27.9 percent for employees and the contribution for the self-employed — issh.gov.al
- VKM 776 of 19 December 2025 — the minimum wage of 50,000 lek a month from 1 January 2026 — qbz.gov.al
- INSTAT — wages in the second quarter of 2026, on average 92,150 lek gross — instat.gov.al
- Draft amendment of VKM 858 (consultation 2026) — the documents for registering as an employee or self-employed person — konsultimipublik.gov.al
- Dutch Unemployment Insurance Act, article 19(1)(e) — no WW for people living outside the Netherlands — wetten.overheid.nl
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