From likes to taxes, the government is preparing a new tax scheme for influencers

Income earned through social media is expected to be the focus of a new fiscal initiative by the Albanian government.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced plans to establish a new tax system for the digital economy, starting with influencers who earn income through their followers and commercial partnerships, and extending to online trading activities.

The announcement comes at a time when social networks are no longer used only as communication platforms, but have become a source of income for individuals and businesses.

Product advertising, brand promotion, partnerships with companies and sales through digital platforms have created a market that operates partly outside traditional trading channels.

Prime Minister Rama said on October 28: “The time has come for a new system of taxation for the digital economy, starting with those who live pretty well […] off likes and followers, and extending to genuine digital commerce.”

The statement signals the government’s intention to increase fiscal oversight of income generated online. However, it remains unclear whether the initiative will introduce a new tax rate for influencers or focus on strengthening mechanisms for declaring income and collecting existing obligations.

According to data made public by the General Directorate of Taxation during 2025, checks conducted in cooperation with banks identified more than 33 million euros in income earned by individuals through digital platforms such as Meta, Facebook, YouTube and Google.

However, this figure does not necessarily reflect the market’s true size, as some income from online activities may remain outside the system for tax declaration and oversight.

In this context, during 2025 the tax administration called on individuals earning income from digital platforms to declare it on the Individual Annual Income Tax Return (DIVA) form.

The initiative marked an effort to identify and formalize income from the digital economy, while the government’s latest announcement of a new tax system for influencers has once again drawn attention to the sector and the challenges of monitoring it for tax purposes.

Income earned through social media is expected to be the focus of a new fiscal initiative by the Albanian government.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced plans to establish a new tax system for the digital economy, starting with influencers who earn income through their followers and commercial partnerships, and extending to online trading activities.

The announcement comes at a time when social networks are no longer used only as communication platforms, but have become a source of income for individuals and businesses.

Product advertising, brand promotion, partnerships with companies and sales through digital platforms have created a market that operates partly outside traditional trading channels.

However, this figure does not necessarily reflect the market’s true size, as some income from online activities may remain outside the system for tax declaration and oversight.

In this context, during 2025 the tax administration called on individuals earning income from digital platforms to declare it on the Individual Annual Income Tax Return (DIVA) form. The initiative marked an effort to identify and formalize income from the digital economy, while the government’s latest announcement of a new tax system for influencers has once again drawn attention to the sector and the challenges of monitoring it for tax purposes.

What do influencers pay today?

Albanian legislation does not provide for a separate tax category called “influencer.” Individuals who earn income from advertising, promotions and other commercial activities on social media are treated according to the nature of their activity and their tax status.

This means that income from company partnerships, sponsored content or digital marketing services is not automatically exempt from tax.

Individuals registered as sole proprietors or businesses are subject to the relevant provisions of tax legislation, while their specific tax treatment depends on how their activity is classified, their income level and the tax regime under which they fall.

In Albania, small businesses with annual gross turnover of up to 14 million lek benefit from favorable tax rates and remain eligible for 0% profit tax until December 31, 2029. However, it has not been clarified whether the announced initiative will change the tax treatment of content creators who currently benefit from this regime. Meanwhile, under the new 2027 fiscal package, the threshold for businesses to register for VAT has been lowered to 5 million lek.

Advertising, gifts and platform payments: the challenge of tax oversight

One of the difficulties in taxing the digital economy concerns how income is earned and documented. Unlike traditional commercial activities, influencer partnerships can involve direct payments from companies, income from international platforms, sales commissions, or products and services provided in exchange for promotion. The tax treatment of products received in exchange for advertising, in particular, raises questions about how benefits that are not paid in cash should be valued and declared.

Another issue is payments from platforms outside Albania, such as YouTube, TikTok or Instagram, and the tax administration’s ability to identify income earned by resident individuals.

According to Nadia Elbasani, a cybersecurity expert, the existence of digital tax administration systems does not guarantee that all income generated online can be identified, particularly income from social media marketing.

“Albania has digital systems for tax administration, but that does not mean it can identify every source of income, especially from social media marketing. First, we need to see what specific mechanisms the government has planned to implement this initiative and how payments will be monitored, particularly those made through unofficial channels,” Elbasani said.

The expert says one of the main obstacles to fully formalizing this market is the difficulty of distinguishing sponsored content from posts that reflect personal experiences or recommendations.

She says this becomes even more complicated when payments are made outside official channels or when the benefit is non-monetary.

“Personally, I find it difficult to formalize this market 100%, because an advertisement on social media can easily be presented as a personal experience. For example, how can it be proven whether someone recommending a restaurant was paid to do so or is simply sharing their opinion? This is all the more difficult when payments may be made informally, in cash, without an invoice or in exchange for free services. Not every post is a paid advertisement, so it must be established whether there has been an economic benefit, without turning tax oversight into monitoring of private life. I see that as the challenge of this initiative,” she stressed.

The difficulty of identifying paid advertisements is not a problem unique to Albania. Elbasani also points to the findings of an inspection coordinated by the European Commission, which identified shortcomings in how influencers disclose commercial content on social media.

“Only 20% of the 576 influencers checked in 2024 systematically identified paid content as advertising, according to an inspection coordinated by the European Commission. This shows that identifying hidden advertising remains a challenge even in European Union countries, since this is a relatively new profession. Moreover, Albania still lacks clear, dedicated rules on the matter. Tax obligations exist, but so far no published model explains how the new oversight system will work,” the expert said.

Elbasani believes the need to formalize the digital economy must be accompanied by a realistic assessment of oversight capabilities and technological limitations before the new system’s implementation is determined.

“Formalizing this market is necessary, but we need to be realistic about the limits of what technology can do. We should wait to see how the system is expected to work and be administered in practice, since so far we have only heard statements and no specific mechanism has been made public,” she concluded. / Monitor