A new draft law on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and the exchange of tax information aims to strengthen Albania's cooperation with the tax administrations of European Union countries and create more efficient mechanisms for identifying cross-border economic activities.

The draft law, submitted for public consultation, aligns the Albanian framework with Council Directive 2011/16/EU, known as DAC 1, as recently amended by Council Directive (EU) 2025/872.

The initiative focuses on exchanging tax information, including the automatic exchange of data held by the Albanian administration on persons with tax residence in another EU Member State. The information that can be exchanged includes income from employment, remuneration from participation in boards of directors, certain life insurance products, pensions, ownership and income from real estate, royalties and dividends not related to a custodial account.

According to the draft law, the automatic exchange must be carried out at least once a year and no later than six months after the end of the tax year during which the information became available.

The new regime will, however, take effect from the date of Albania’s accession to the EU. Another element of the initiative is related to the strengthening of tax identification. For tax periods starting on 1 January 2030, the communication of the tax identification number (TIN), issued by the country of residence, will be required, where possible, for certain categories of income.

The General Directorate of Taxation will also be responsible for quality control and validation of the TIN in the information exchanged with tax administrations of other countries.

The draft law also provides for the exchange of information upon request and spontaneously. In the case of a request from a tax administration of a member state, information of foreseeable importance for tax administration must be provided, in principle, within three months, while in certain circumstances the deadline may extend to six months.

Cooperation will also be extended to cases where the Albanian tax administration has data that may be important for another country, especially when there is a risk of loss of tax revenues or the use of cross-border structures to avoid fiscal obligations.