Payroll in Albania 2026: contributions, TAP and the payroll list

In Albania the employer withholds the employee's 9.5% social insurance, 1.7% health insurance and the employment income tax (TAP) from each salary, and pays its own 15% social and 1.7% health contributions on top. Everything is declared on the monthly payroll list and paid to the tax administration by the 20th of the following month.

Payroll in Albania at a glance

Social and health insurance contributions

The contributions are set by Council of Ministers decision no. 77 of 2015 and collected by the tax administration with the payroll list. The Ministry of Finance's Instruction no. 23 of 9 December 2014, last updated on 8 July 2026, splits them by branch for employees working 87 hours a month or more:

What to watch:

• Minimum and maximum base. The DPT confirms that from 1 January 2026 the minimum base rose to ALL 50,000 and the maximum to ALL 186,416 a month. A gross salary below the minimum is charged as if it were ALL 50,000; above ALL 186,416, social insurance is charged on ALL 186,416, while health insurance keeps applying to the full gross pay.
• Part-time under 87 hours a month. These employees are insured only for maternity, pensions, work accidents and health, still on at least the minimum wage.
• Joining or leaving during the month. Contributions are calculated on the pay earned for the days worked.
• Sick pay. Pay for the first 14 days of a medical certificate, which the employer pays under the Labour Code, is included in the health insurance base.

Employment income tax (TAP)

The employer withholds TAP as the payroll tax agent under Law No. 29/2023 on income tax. The Ministry of Finance's General Instruction no. 26 of 8 September 2023, last updated on 12 March 2026, explains the calculation. Social and health contributions are not deducted; instead, gross pay is reduced by a deduction that depends on the salary:

The rest is taxed at 13% up to ALL 170,000 a month (ALL 2,040,000 a year) and 23% on the part above. The DPT's own example: a gross salary of ALL 100,000 gives ALL 100,000 − 30,000 = ALL 70,000 × 13% = ALL 9,100 of TAP.

One employer gives the deduction. The employee signs a personal status declaration (deklarata e statusit personal) before the first salary is paid, and only with one employer, normally the main one. Every other employer withholds 13% and 23% on the full gross pay. An employee with more than one employer then files the annual personal income return by 31 March of the following year, where the tax is recalculated.

Through the annual return only. A compensation of ALL 48,000 a year for each dependent child under 18, and up to ALL 100,000 of education expenses for those earning under ALL 1.2 million a year, are claimed in the annual return by the family member with the highest income, not in monthly payroll.

Minimum wage, working time and mandatory pay

• Minimum wage. Council of Ministers decision no. 776 of 19 December 2025 sets the basic minimum monthly wage at ALL 50,000 for 174 hours of work in normal working time, and the hourly minimum at ALL 287.3, from 1 January 2026. It binds every employer, domestic or foreign, and permanent allowances are paid on top of the basic wage. It replaced decision no. 113 of 1 March 2023.
• Working time. Normal working time is no more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest.
• Overtime. The employer may ask for up to 200 hours of overtime a year. According to the State Labour Inspectorate, overtime not compensated with time off is paid at normal pay plus at least 25%, or compensated with time off at least 25% longer within two months; overtime on the weekly rest day or a public holiday carries at least 50% (Labour Code, Article 91), unless a collective agreement provides otherwise.
• Night work. Work between 22:00 and 06:00 is night work, and it may not last more than eight hours without a break.

Monthly payroll calendar and filings

1. 1Before the first working day. Declare each new or returning employee electronically to the tax administration at least one calendar day before they start. Declare leavers within 10 calendar days, otherwise contributions keep accruing until you do.
2. 2When the employment starts. Collect the employee's personal status declaration, so you can apply the monthly TAP deduction.
3. 3By the 20th of the following month. File the payroll list (listëpagesa e kontributeve të sigurimeve shoqërore, shëndetësore dhe tatimit mbi të ardhurat nga punësimi) electronically and pay the contributions and TAP. Businesses in the simplified small-business profit tax regime declare and pay quarterly, by the 20th of the month after each quarter, with monthly figures.
4. 4Every year by 31 March. Employees with more than one employer file their annual personal income return.

Records and payslips. The payroll list shows, for every employee, the gross pay, the contribution bases and amounts, the deduction, the TAP base and the net pay; a payslip with the same lines lets the employee check it. Employers must keep records of each employee's employment period and of the amounts paid, and make them available to tax inspectors.

Worked example: ALL 100,000 a month

A full-time employee, single, with one employer and a signed personal status declaration, earning ALL 100,000 gross a month:

At the minimum wage of ALL 50,000 there is no TAP: the employee pays ALL 5,600 of contributions and takes home ALL 44,400, and the employer adds ALL 8,350, for a total cost of ALL 58,350.

Common mistakes

1. 1Deducting the contributions from the TAP base. TAP is calculated on gross pay minus the deduction, not on pay after contributions.
2. 2Applying the deduction at two employers. Only the employer holding the personal status declaration may apply it.
3. 3Missing the step above ALL 50,000. At ALL 50,000 there is no TAP; at ALL 50,001 the deduction falls to ALL 35,000 and the TAP is about ALL 1,950.
4. 4Capping health insurance at ALL 186,416. Only social insurance has a ceiling.
5. 5Charging contributions on less than ALL 50,000 for a full-time employee.
6. 6Declaring a new employee on their first day instead of at least one calendar day before.
7. 7Paying overtime at the normal rate without the 25% or 50% supplement.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly ships a built-in payroll profile for Albania: the TAP bands and deduction as modelled, the employee and employer social and health contribution rates, the ALL 186,416 ceiling, the ALL 50,000 minimum base and the minimum wage, checked against official sources in October 2026. It calculates gross to net and the employer contributions, produces payslips, and supports recurring payroll adjustments and imports of employees and payroll data; an administrator can adjust the rates in the payroll tax settings. The profile models one employee in a primary job, single, without dependants, at national level, so second jobs, part-time work under 87 hours, child compensation and other personal circumstances must be checked.

For Albania it also exports each run's payroll list to Excel with the rubrics of form E-SIG 025, so you can enter or check it in e-Filing.

Alongside payroll, the human resources module handles leave requests and approvals with a leave calendar and HR documents, and attendance and time tracking records working hours and overtime. To close the books after the payroll run, see our month-end close checklist.