Anyone who rents apartments for daily rent on Airbnb and Booking is not required to open a NIPT, but must declare their income through DIVA and pay 15% tax.
The Tax Administration has clarified that individuals who rent apartments or villas for daily rent through online platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com are not required to open a NIPT if they do not exercise any other commercial activity. However, they must declare the income earned through the Annual Individual Income Tax Declaration (DIVA), and pay 15% tax on it, by March 31 of the following year.
"An individual who rents out real estate and does not engage in any other commercial activity does not have the legal obligation to register for the exercise of the rental activity but pays tax on the annual personal income realized. Regarding the tax on the personal income realized, the law has determined that their declaration and payment will be made through the Annual Individual Income Tax Return (DIVA). The declaration of which is made by March 31 of the following year.
Every taxpayer/individual who earns income with a source in the territory of the Republic of Albania bears the legal obligation to declare it and pay tax on any income earned according to the regulatory provisions in force. The verification of taxpayer self-declarations is an attribute of the tax administration and is carried out through the exercise of controls and assessments of the declarations made.
Referring to the legal provisions in force, and specifically to Article 15, point 1, letter dh) of Law No. 29/2023 "On Income Tax", as amended, income generated from the rental of real estate, which is not business income, is considered as investment income," the tax document explains.
For 2024, with the completion of DIVA, the new requirement was the obligation to declare income over 50 thousand lek that an individual has earned during the year, for which no final tax was withheld at source.
Even if this individual did not have a total annual income of over 1.2 million lek (only if the income is over 1.2 million lek does the individual have an obligation to complete DIVA), but had over 50 thousand lek per year in income that was not taxed, he had an obligation to complete DIVA.
So they may not have earned a total income of over 1.2 million lek, but they have earned over 50 thousand lek and are not taxed, in which case they will have to declare DIVA.
Such income may be: Income from rental, when the tenant is an individual not registered as a commercial taxpayer, income generated outside Albania, etc.
Meanwhile, due to the growing demand of foreign tourists to stay in daily rental apartments, as rental prices are cheaper than traditional accommodation structures, their number continues to increase.
According to data from AirDna, a special structure that maintains market data for daily rentals on the international Airbnb platform, in June 21,447 apartments, villas or houses were listed in Albania.
Compared to June 2023, their number increased by 39%, while compared to June 2022, listings have increased by 73%.
However, some of these individuals are not registered with the tax authorities, which has prompted measures to be taken to record and tax this activity carried out in the informal market.
Notwithstanding the above, the General Directorate of Taxes emphasizes that it has taken a series of measures regarding the identification of individuals who generate income from the daily or non-daily rental of real estate.
To identify individuals who rent out properties for daily rent and formalize them, taxes began identifying them through the commissions paid by them on the Booking platform.
The Directorate of Investigation is drafting a pilot project to record this data through tax representatives in Albania who rent out properties on Booking or AirBnb platforms.
The project foresees that the number of landlords identified through paid commissions, for formalization, will be cross-referenced with a series of data, including declarations in the Annual Individual Income Tax Declaration (DIVA) for 2024, with the aim of withholding 15% withholding tax on untaxed income./Monitor
