Shaqir Totaj was born on 24 December 1960 in Prizren, in the then Kosovo which was part of Socialist Yugoslavia.
He finished high school in Prizren and went on to graduate from the University of Prishtina Economics Faculty.
During his tenure as head of the Prizren branch of the KTA (Kosovo Tax Administration), he was part of the year long Hubert Humphrey Fellowship at the University of Washington with the support of the American Embassy, his study was in the field of "Management and Leadership of the Public Sector".
[7][8] Totaj also served as Vice President of the Democratic Party but was later replaced in 2021 in favor of Vlora Çitaku.
Shaqir Totaj was the former leader of the local basketball club in Prizren "Bashkimi".