Educating for Compliance: Albania’s Legal Adaptation to EU Anti-Avoidance Rules

The increasing globalization of financial flows and Albania’s commitment to aligning its legal system with the European Union acquis have brought to the forefront the need to assess the effectiveness and compatibility of national tax legislation, particularly in the field of tax avoidance. This article offers a critical and educationally oriented analysis of the alignment of Albanian provisions on tax avoidance with the EU’s main directives, especially the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC), and other related instruments.Using a comparative methodology, the study examines both normative-legal and practical differences between the European framework and Albanian legislation, with a particular focus on general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR), interest deduction limitations, controlled foreign company (CFC) rules, hybrid mismatches, and mandatory disclosure regimes. Case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union is incorporated to highlight its potential impact not only on legal interpretation but also on legal education and tax training in Albania.The article underscores that the absence of a clear GAAR, specific anti-avoidance rules (SAAR), and a functional tax transparency system leaves Albania vulnerable to aggressive tax planning. Equally important, it emphasizes that the lack of structured legal education programs and specialized training in EU tax law significantly hampers the understanding, implementation, and enforcement of these standards, both within public administration and among future legal professionals.The article concludes that, although Albania has made legislative progress in adopting anti-avoidance measures, there remain critical gaps in legal coherence, administrative enforcement, and taxpayer protection. It provides targeted recommendations for improving alignment with EU directives, strengthening legal certainty, and embedding tax law and anti-avoidance concepts more deeply into legal education curricula to support the country’s broader European integration goals. Received: 05 October 2025 / Accepted: 15 December 2025 / Published: January 2026