Albania: taxes and living

[pedromaldonado]

Hey guys!

I am from Spain, and we are thinking of leaving the country as my wife got an interesting job offer from Albania. I am freelance and I work online, so for me, it is totally fine to leave. However, I am not sure about how much taxes I should have to pay in Albania and how’s life there. Do you know anything about it?

Thanks!

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

Albania - Overview

Overview of business environment/doing business in Albania as it pertains to taxation, both individual and corporate

taxsummaries.pwc.com

Taxes are cheaper than in Spain but not necessarily low. Life is ok-ish; food is great and locals are friendly.
Things are generally cheap. A lot of people speak Italian so communication can be easy for you.

Albanian is not an easy language tho, and tbh why would you learn they are 3M people.

 

[Sols]

Taxes are lower than Spain but higher than many of its neighbors.

It's not a country a lot of people seek out and want to move to, for a range of reasons.

If you want to be in that region, consider Montenegro, North Macedonia or — if you want to stay in the EU — Croatia.

 

[diatessaron]

20% tax on everything.
Food is excellent.
Locals are friendly.
Capital city is expensive, filled with high-end restaurants, bars and such.
Life is good, the "mafia will harvest your organs" stereotype you might've heard about is not true. The bad guys won't even notice you, as a matter of fact it is safer than most Western countries during the night.
Locals can speak more than Albanian, English is pretty common but so are Italian, Greek and even Spanish in many cases.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Long are gone the days when Albanians migrated to Italy on packed boats… now it’s the other way around! Albania is a very nice country full of business opportunities. You will enjoy it!

 

[pedromaldonado]

Wow guys! Many thanks for all this information! I really appreciate it! I will take a decision soon. In case we finally decide to move to Albania, I will keep you posted and I will share with you my experience there. Thanks again!

 

[pedromaldonado]

Hey guys! I already moved to Tirana. So far, everything is going well. The place is nice and safe and it seems they are working to develop it much more.

Hopefully I will open a bank account with BKT (Banka Kombetare Tregtare) soon. Do you recommend opening a neobank account available for Albania also? So I can diversify my freelance winnings in different accounts. I do not want to receive any payment in my Spanish account at the moment.

Thanks!

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

Hey guys! I already moved to Tirana. So far, everything is going well. The place is nice and safe and it seems they are working to develop it much more.

Hopefully I will open a bank account with BKT (Banka Kombetare Tregtare) soon. Do you recommend opening a neobank account available for Albania also? So I can diversify my freelance winnings in different accounts. I do not want to receive any payment in my Spanish account at the moment.

Thanks!

Congrats! Hope you get as fat as you can over there, food is amazing.

Absolutely diversify, most EMIs are free on the personal side so Revolut, Wise, Bankera, N26, etc are good accounts to have.
Avoid using the ES IBAN as much as possible, Spanish Hacienda can get stupid at times.

 

[pedromaldonado]

Hey guys!

Just to keep you posted about my banking situation in Albania.

I kept my Spanish banks and I opened a couple of neobanks accounts. I am also open an account in an Albanian bank: BKT. Apart from this bank, you can find: OTP, Tirana Bank, Credins Bank, Raiffeisen Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo. These are the banks I had any type of relation with: withdraw money with my neobank debit card, made a payment, etc.

So far, what I noticed this people charge commissions for almost everything, and I am not talking about account maintenance. Transfer money for a rent payment from a bank to another, for example, cost money. Also make a governmental payment. Other funny thing: you can have an euro account, but most ATM only provide lek.

Life is going well anyway. Tirana is a better place than I expected. You can find most of the services, including lots of cafeterias, restaurants, shopping malls, etc. I am still checking about hospitals, because it seems they are not too good.

Parking is crazy, by the way. And a great business in case you want to invest here.

Talk soon guys!

 

[Conte Ugolino]

How much you're paying for rent and in which zone? Haven't been in Tirana in ages but I've heard stuff is pretty hectic there with all the drug money being laundered into buildings and apartment prices/rents are crazy.