How to Declare Airbnb Income Through DIVA in Albania

What DIVA covers

DIVA (Deklarata Individuale Vjetore e të Ardhurave) is filed once per year for the previous calendar year. It covers:

• Employment income (where not already withheld)
• Self-employment income (where you don't have a NIPT — see our NIPT guide for when one's required)
• Rental income from real estate you own (short-term or long-term)
• Capital gains from property sales (taxed at 15% since Law 29/2023)
• Investment income (dividends, interest above certain thresholds)
• Foreign-sourced income if you're a tax resident of Albania

For most Airbnb hosts who don't have a separate business, this is the form their income shows up on.

The basic flow

1. Track income through the year. Every payout from Airbnb, Booking.com, and any direct bookings. Download annual reports from each platform in January for the previous year.
2. Track deductible expenses through the year. Save receipts, invoices, bank statements showing payments. Organise by category.
3. Compile the annual numbers in January–February. Total gross rental income; total deductible expenses; net rental income.
4. File DIVA through e-Albania. The declaration goes into the e-Filing system; you can either do it yourself or have your accountant do it.
5. Pay any tax owed. Net rental income × 15% = tax due. Payable by the filing deadline (end of April).

Records to keep

The tax authority can request clarification or documentation for up to 5 years after the filing date. Keep:

• Annual platform statements from Airbnb and Booking.com (downloadable from each platform in early January)
• Bank statements showing the payouts received (Albanian bank account or foreign account if used)
• Receipts and invoices for every claimed expense — cleaning, management fees, repairs, utilities, building fees, insurance, furniture and equipment purchases
• Property ownership documents proving you own the property (the çertifikatë pronësie)
• If applicable: contracts with your property manager, cleaning company, etc.

The standard practice we recommend to our owners: a single shared folder per calendar year (cloud-based — Google Drive, Dropbox), structured into "Income" and "Expenses" subfolders, with documents dropped in as they happen. This makes the January–February compilation work straightforward and reduces the accountant's billable hours.

Common deductible expenses for rental income

Generally accepted under current Albanian tax practice (confirm specifics with your accountant):

• Property management fees (e.g., our 20% of net)
• Cleaning and turnover service costs
• Consumable supplies provided to guests
• Repairs and routine maintenance
• Utilities — electricity, water, gas, internet — proportionally if the apartment was used personally part of the year
• Building / condominium fees
• Annual property tax
• Property insurance
• Depreciation on furniture and appliances (typically 20-25% per year over 4-5 years)
• Accountant fees for the property's tax declaration
• Bank fees on rental income transactions

Not generally deductible:

• The mortgage principal (only interest is potentially deductible, and the treatment depends on your filing status)
• Personal use of the apartment
• Capital improvements (these are added to the property's cost basis for eventual capital gains)
• Pre-letting purchases that are personal in nature

A worked example

Owner: foreign individual, owns a 2-bed Durrës apartment, declares as individual.

• Gross rental income 2024 (Airbnb + Booking.com payouts): €13,196
• Deductible expenses 2024:
  • Property management fees: €2,200
  • Cleaning costs: €1,860
  • Consumable supplies: €310
  • Repairs: €485
  • Utilities (rented out 200 days of 365): €560
  • Building fee: €180
  • Annual property tax: €19
  • Insurance: €130
  • Depreciation on furniture (20%/year, year 3 of 5): €270
  • Accountant fee for this year's filing: €280
  • Total expenses: €6,294
• Net rental income: €13,196 − €6,294 = €6,902
• Tax owed (15% × €6,902): €1,035
• After-tax rental income: €6,902 − €1,035 = €5,867

The deductible expenses brought the taxable base down by 48% of gross. Keeping good records matters — without proper documentation, every euro that can't be supported gets disallowed on audit.

Cost of a good accountant

For a single short-term rental property in Albania, budget €180–€400 for the annual DIVA declaration. Multi-property owners or anyone with mixed income (employment + rental + foreign sources) should budget €400–€800.

What you're paying for: organising the documentation, identifying every legitimate deduction, filing correctly, representing you if the tax authority requests clarification. A €280 accountant fee that saves you €600 in disallowed deductions or avoided penalties is the easiest ROI in Albanian property investment.

What happens if you don't file

• Late filing penalty: typically a percentage of tax owed plus interest (0.06% per day of the unpaid amount, accumulating)
• The tax authority can issue an assessment using their own estimate of your income (typically higher than your actual, since they're working from what they can see — platform reports, bank statements)
• Inability to claim deductions retroactively: late filings have stricter documentation requirements
• Increased risk of being moved to a business classification (NIPT-required) if the tax authority sees ongoing rental activity outside the personal filing framework

Albanian tax enforcement on short-term rental income has tightened materially in 2024–2025. The tax authority can match Airbnb's platform reporting (which Airbnb is increasingly providing to tax authorities under DAC7 reporting in the EU and similar bilateral arrangements globally) against Albanian declarations. The era of "they won't notice" is closing.

What we provide to owners we manage

For every property under our management, we deliver a year-end summary in January for the previous calendar year, formatted exactly how Albanian accountants want it: monthly gross by platform, deductible expenses categorised, supporting receipts attached. Your accountant can use this directly as the basis for the DIVA filing.

We don't file DIVA on your behalf — that's between you and your accountant — but we make the accountant's job five times faster, which usually means lower fees and fewer questions.

Final reminder on the disclaimer

This article describes practice as we understand it in 2025. Tax law changes, interpretations evolve, your situation matters. Get specific advice from a licensed Albanian accountant before filing your declaration.