Property tax in Albania 2026: how it is calculated for your apartment and what you pay in Tirana

The annual property tax on an apartment in Albania is 0.05% of its value. The value is the price per square metre multiplied by the floor area, and when the municipality has no higher registered value for the property, the price is the official reference price for the area. Using the reference price, for an 80 m² apartment in the city of Tirana this comes to between 3,268 and 9,136 lek (ALL) a year, depending on the area. In Tirana the tax is paid every month together with the water bill, and according to the Municipality its average monthly billing for a household subscriber is 396.60 lek.

Below we explain the tax that applies today: the formula step by step, with worked examples, who is exempt and what changes when you buy, sell or rent out your home. We checked the rules on 1 October 2026.

Tax rate for residential buildings

0.05%

Lek per m²: reference prices in the zones of the city of Tirana

81,700 to 228,400

Average monthly building tax billing for a household subscriber in Tirana

396.60 lek

Households in Tirana pay it monthly with the water bill

12 instalments

What property tax in Albania is

Law no. 9632/2006 "On the system of local taxes" divides the tax on immovable property into three parts: the tax on buildings, the tax on agricultural land and the tax on building land (article 20). For an apartment, what you pay is the tax on buildings. All owners pay it, Albanian or foreign, whether or not the home is used: co-owners according to their share, and the user when the property has no ownership documents. Those who have applied to legalise the building also pay it (article 22).

How it is calculated: the formula step by step

The formula is simple: annual tax = value of the home × 0.05%, where value of the home = price per m² × floor area (Law no. 9632/2006, articles 22/1 and 22/2; Council of Ministers Decision, VKM, no. 132 of 7 March 2018). For buildings used for economic activity, the rate is 0.2%.

The municipality sets the price per m² according to the methodology of VKM no. 132/2018, in this order:

1. Your self-declaration. If the value you declare differs from the one calculated with the methodology, the higher one is taken.
2. Cadastre data. The value of the property registered in the cadastre serves as the reference, including the value from a revaluation. If the property was sold in the last 3 years, the higher of the sale price and the registered value is taken.
3. The reference price for the area, when a valuation under the first two points is not possible. For homes it is in the annex to the VKM, replaced by VKM no. 457 of 26 July 2023. Here too, if the cadastre price per m² and the minimum fiscal price differ, the higher one is taken.

For new buildings, the VKM annex and the Tirana decision (no. 35 of 28 March 2024) provide for a price indexed 0.2 times higher, that is 20% above the area price, for the first 5 years after the occupancy permit is registered with ASHK (the State Cadastre Agency, Agjencia Shtetërore e Kadastrës). The rule is written in the part on buildings not used for housing, so ask the tax office which price it applies to your home.

How much you pay in Tirana: worked examples

The reference price is the value per m² that the government sets by decision for each zone, for tax purposes; it is not the market price. In the city of Tirana, it ranges from 81,700 to 228,400 lek per m², depending on the zone, while in the administrative units outside the city it ranges from 23,000 to 115,200 lek. These values, from VKM no. 457/2023, have also been included in its own rules by the Municipal Council with decision no. 35 of 28 March 2024. You can find out which zone your home falls in at the local tax office, while what it might be worth on the market you can see with the free property valuation.

For a 45 m² studio in a zone at 97,200 lek/m², the value is 4,374,000 lek and the tax 2,187 lek a year, about 182 lek a month. Compare it with the Municipality's average: in the 2026-2028 Budget Programme, the household tax planning is based on an average monthly billing of 396.60 lek per subscriber, for about 215,185 contracts, which is about 4,759 lek a year.

Municipalities can approve sub-zones with rate levels within limits of plus or minus 30% (VKM no. 132/2018, article 2), so in other cities the amount may differ. In Tirana, Municipal Council decision no. 158 of 26 December 2019 applies 0.05% to homes (article 7).

How the tax is paid in Tirana

In Tirana, the agent that collects the building tax on homes is Ujësjellës Kanalizime Tiranë sh.a., the city's water utility. The liability is annual, but households pay it in 12 equal instalments, which appear on the water bill and are paid together with it (decision no. 158/2019, articles 9 and 12). For buildings used for business, the tax is collected by the General Directorate of Local Taxes and Fees, in two instalments: by 20 April and by 30 June.

The temporary tax for school infrastructure, which Tirana households also paid on the water bill for the years 2023 to 2025 (1,800 lek a year, but no more than 35% of the building tax), has not been planned for 2026, except for arrears (decision no. 139 of 23 December 2022; 2026-2028 Budget Programme).

Who is exempt

Under the law and the Tirana decision, the following do not pay tax on the building:

• homes declared as the residence of heads of household who receive only an old-age pension or a social pension, when the family consists only of pensioners, or also of dependants who are unable to work;
• homes of heads of household who receive economic assistance (welfare);
• homes used by tenants under non-liberalised (controlled) leases;
• the municipality's social housing and homes that, by agreement with the municipality, are used as social housing.

When a property is damaged by force majeure, the Municipal Council can reduce the tax by up to 75%, case by case. To claim an exemption in Tirana, you submit the documents to the Administrative Unit or the neighbourhood office where you live: proof of the pension or economic assistance, the document on the family composition, the document of ownership or use of the home, and the water contract, booklet or bill in the name of the head of household (decision no. 158/2019, article 11).

When you buy, sell or rent out

When a property passes to another owner during the year, the liability is calculated in proportion to the period of ownership (Law no. 9632/2006, article 21). Before registering the sale, ASHK requires the municipality's certificate confirming payment of the taxes (article 24), so ask for this certificate on the list of documents for buying a home. The other steps of buying are in how to buy a house in Albania, and the notary and ASHK costs in the costs of buying property.

The law places the tax on the owner, but in Tirana it appears on the water bill. When you rent out the home, write in the contract who pays it; see the rental contract.

If you revalue the property by paying the 5% tax by 31 December 2026, the new value is registered with ASHK. Under the methodology of VKM no. 132/2018, the value registered from a revaluation serves as a reference for the tax base, so ask the municipality how it affects your tax. How the revaluation works is explained in property revaluation 2026.

If you do not agree with the amount

You can ask the local tax office at any time to correct the value, with documents that justify the request, for example on the floor area or the zone. The office must reply to you in writing within 30 days. If you do not agree with the reply, you appeal to the local tax appeals body and, finally, to the Administrative Court (VKM no. 132/2018, article 2, points 9 and 10).

What may change: the 2026 draft law

On 17 June 2026, the Ministry of Finance published for public consultation the draft law "On the tax on immovable property"; the consultation closed on 15 July 2026. The draft proposes a tax on the assessed value of the property, with a rate of 0.1% to 0.2% for homes, set by the municipal council, and a 50% deduction from the value for the first home, up to a threshold for each municipality. The tax would be paid in two instalments, by 30 June and 30 September.

Under the draft's transitional provisions, the new system would apply to buildings from tax year 2029, while the current tax would continue until 31 December 2028. As of 26 October 2026 we found no approval of the draft by either the Council of Ministers or Parliament, so for 2026 the rules above apply. How much you would pay under the new formula is worked out, with examples, in our article on the property tax at market value.

Frequently asked questions