What It Really Costs a Foreigner to Form and Run an Albanian Company

A foreigner forming an Albanian SHPK (limited liability company) faces two distinct cost layers: a one-time formation cost and a recurring annual cost of ownership. The one-time formation runs roughly €170–200 in government and notary admin (QKB registration is effectively free, but a notarized statute, sworn translations, and apostille handling carry these costs) plus a professional formation fee — our remote, power-of-attorney formation is €900. The recurring cost is where most budgets break: a registered office (selia ligjore) from €420/year, monthly accounting and compliance from €100/month (€1,200/year), and fiscalization (fiskalizimi) e-invoicing software. Albania has no minimum capital barrier — the statutory minimum is ALL 100 (about €1) under Law No. 9901/2008 "On Entrepreneurs and Companies," — but the €1 capital figure that dominates forum posts is the least relevant number in the budget. The honest total first-year cost for a foreign-owned, fully compliant SHPK is typically €2,500–3,500. This article breaks down every line.

Albania's headline selling point is real: the minimum share capital for an SHPK is ALL 100 — about €1 — set by Law No. 9901/2008. You genuinely do not need to deposit €10,000 or €25,000 as you would in much of the EU. But the €1 figure misleads foreigners into thinking formation is nearly free.

Share capital is not a fee — it is the company's own money, contributed by the owner, that stays inside the business. It is neither a cost to the state nor a cost you lose. Budgeting around it tells you nothing about what you will actually spend. The numbers that matter are the QKB and notary admin to incorporate, the professional fee to do it correctly and remotely, and the recurring office and compliance costs that begin the month you register. A company formed for "€1 of capital" still costs thousands per year to keep lawfully alive. For the structural decision of whether an SHPK is even right for you versus operating as a sole trader, see Person Fizik vs SHPK in Albania.

Registering an SHPK happens at the National Business Center (QKB — Qendra Kombëtare e Biznesit), the one-stop registry, and the QKB registration fee itself is effectively zero (a nominal ALL 100–120). QKB registration is a single act that simultaneously enrolls the company with the tax administration (DPT) and issues your NIPT (tax identification number) — see our Albania company registration guide for the procedure.

The real one-time admin cost comes from the documents around it. A foreign owner typically needs: a notarized company statute and founding act (notary fees commonly €60–120 depending on complexity); sworn (certified) translation of the foreign owner's passport and any corporate shareholder documents into Albanian (~€30–60); and, where a corporate parent or foreign document is involved, an apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention plus translation. Bundled, these land in the €170–200 range for a straightforward single-foreigner SHPK. The figure rises if the shareholder is itself a foreign company (more documents to apostille and translate). The full step-by-step is in our SHPK formation guide.

Beyond the government admin, the professional fee is what you pay a firm to form the company correctly — and, for a foreigner abroad, to do it remotely under a power of attorney (prokurë) so you never have to fly to Tirana. Our remote formation fee is €900. The fee exists because the work is real: drafting the statute with the right object of activity and management structure; preparing the power of attorney for notarization at an Albanian embassy or via apostille; filing at the QKB; obtaining the NIPT; and registering the company's tax account on e-Albania (the national digital portal — see our e-Albania portal guide).

This is also where the VAT decision is made. VAT registration is mandatory once turnover crosses ALL 10,000,000, but a company can opt in voluntarily from day one — often sensible for a B2B exporter that wants to reclaim input VAT. Setting this up at formation, rather than retrofitting it later, avoids a common and expensive correction. A €900 professional fee that gets the structure, NIPT, and tax account right the first time is cheaper than unwinding a mis-filed statute or a late VAT registration after the fact.

Every Albanian company must declare a registered office (selia ligjore) — a real physical address in Albania — to the QKB at formation. This is not optional and it is not a PO box: it is the legal address where the tax administration, courts, and the QKB send official notices, and it is published on the public registry. A foreigner who does not live in Albania still needs one, which is why a registered-office / registered-agent service exists. Our registered office in Tirana is €420/year.

The cost is not just renting an address. The value is in what happens at that address: official correspondence from the DPT and QKB is received, scanned, and acted on before deadlines pass. A registered office that simply collects unopened mail is a liability — penalty notices and inspection requests have hard response windows. The address must remain valid for the life of the company; if it lapses or the landlord withdraws consent, the company can be flagged or struck off. Budget €420/year as a fixed, non-negotiable line for as long as the company exists. Foreign owners weighing whether an office is genuinely required should also read our branch office guide for the alternative structures.

Once the SHPK has a NIPT, monthly obligations begin immediately and continuously, regardless of whether the company has yet earned a single lek. This recurring compliance — not the formation fee — is the largest lifetime cost of an Albanian company, and the line foreigners most often underestimate. Our monthly accounting and compliance starts at €100/month (€1,200/year) and scales with transaction volume and payroll headcount.

What that covers every month: bookkeeping; payroll declarations and social/health contributions (due by the 20th, mandatory from the first employed administrator); VAT returns (monthly, due around the 14th, if VAT-registered); and continuous fiscalization. Annually it covers corporate income tax (15% on profit; reduced rates apply to small business), financial statements, and the annual return to the QKB. See our annual compliance guide for the full calendar and VAT registration guide for the thresholds. Albanian penalties are automatic and cumulative — a missed return costs ALL 10,000 for a company, and late payment accrues 0.06% per day with no cap. Over a company's life, compliance is the dominant number: roughly €1,200+ per year, every year, dwarfing the one-time setup.

Albania's fiscalization (fiskalizimi) system requires every company to issue invoices in real time through certified e-invoicing software connected to the tax administration's Central Information System, each invoice digitally signed and assigned a unique identifier. This is mandatory for an active SHPK and adds a recurring software cost, commonly €10–40/month depending on the provider and transaction volume, plus a one-time NAIS digital certificate obtained via e-Albania. Some accounting packages bundle the software; some bill it separately — ask which, because it is a genuine line, not a rounding error.

Other running costs foreigners forget: a business bank account (Albanian banks may charge monthly maintenance and require an in-person or notarized opening); sworn translation of any later foreign documents filed at the QKB; and the irreducible reality that some acts (bank signatures, certain notarizations) cannot be fully delegated and may need a one-time visit or a specific power of attorney. None of these is large alone, but together they explain why a realistic first-year all-in budget for a foreign-owned SHPK sits at €2,500–3,500, not the "€1" of capital.

Put together, the realistic numbers for a foreigner are: one-time — €170–200 QKB/notary/translation admin + €900 remote professional formation ≈ ~€1,100 to incorporate; recurring — €420/year registered office + €1,200+/year monthly compliance + ~€120–480/year fiscalization software ≈ ~€1,700–2,100 per year, every year. A typical fully-compliant first year therefore lands around €2,500–3,500, with subsequent years closer to €1,700–2,100. These are honest planning figures, not a quote — exact costs depend on whether the shareholder is an individual or a foreign company, payroll headcount, VAT status, and transaction volume.

The largest hidden risk for foreigners is not the price; it is missing an Albanian-language deadline from abroad, where penalties are automatic. A remote registered-agent service consolidates the registered office, formation, and monthly compliance into one accountable relationship with a deadline engine watching e-Albania for you. If you want your specific numbers mapped before you commit, book a €30 consultation with Valbona — it is credited toward your setup if you proceed.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice; figures are 2026 planning estimates and your situation requires individual review.