Albania backs 2027 dividend and VAT proposals in principle

The package has reached a government milestone

The Ministry of Finance reported on 5 November that the Council of Ministers had approved the draft 2027 budget and six accompanying fiscal bills in principle the previous day. The package is therefore a government proposal for parliamentary consideration, not enacted law. The Ministry’s release establishes the policy direction but does not supply the six complete bill texts or final commencement clauses.^[1][2]

Dividend tax would rise

The proposed income-tax amendments would increase the tax on dividends from 8% to 15%. The package also proposes progressive taxation of employment income. The accessible official summaries do not establish all taxpayer definitions, withholding mechanics, transitional treatment or the exact employment-income bands. Groups should therefore model the stated headline change separately from questions that depend on the detailed bill.^[1][2]

VAT and consumption taxes would change

The standard VAT rate would rise from 20% to 21%, while 54 basic-basket products would be taxed at 6%. The Government also proposes changing vehicle and circulation taxation and continuing the excise schedule for tobacco. Separately, Decision No. 822/2026 is described as lowering the VAT registration threshold from ALL 10 million to ALL 5 million from 1 January 2027, but the complete decision text and product list were not recovered in this run.^[1][2]

Treat this as focused package coverage

MNE tax teams should identify Albanian dividend flows, VAT registrations and pricing systems potentially affected by the stated proposals, but keep current rates and registration rules in place until legislation is adopted and published. The six bills, transitional rules, precise reduced-rate list, employment bands, vehicle formula and Decision No. 822/2026 text remain separate source gaps. This report covers the verified headline proposals and is not a whole-package overview.^[1][2]