Swiss Leaks: Malta Investment Registration Scheme attracts 1,469 applications with €455m
An investment registration scheme launched by the government last year attracted a total of 1,469 valid registrations covering an aggregate of €455.8 million worth of eligible assets, The Finance Ministry told The Malta Independent.
Of the total amount registered, €69.8 million or 15% of the total was repatriated following registration. Registration fees of the scheme – which expired in November – received by the Government amounted to €32 million.
The Ministry was replying to questions by The Malta Independent in the wake of this newspaper’s revelation on former ministers Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit, who have admitted to having kept secret Swiss bank accounts, and following an agreement on data transfer information between Italy and Switzerland, signed last week.
Italy and Switzerland have agreed an amendment to their double tax agreement (DTA) to enhance tax information exchange provisions. The protocol to the DTA will now incorporate the OECD global standard for the exchange of information upon request. Italy has now also launched an Investment Registration Scheme where voluntary disclosures can be made and special reduced penalties are imposed.
Malta has done both already. Malta had entered into a DTA with Switzerland in July of 2012, following the completion of ratification procedures in both countries and incorporates the OECD global standard for the exchange of information upon request.
The treaty was enacted by legal notice 322 of 2012 Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (The Swiss Confederation) Order, 2012. Such agreements provide tax authorities the power to request tax-related information pertaining to specific investigations, which are conducted whenever the relevant authorities have reason to believe that an individual or company is involved in activities linked to tax evasion.
Last year, the ministry said, the Maltese Government had also launched its own Investment Registration Scheme, whereby it invited persons and companies to voluntary disclose previously undeclared financial investments.
In the 2014 Budget the Maltese Government had announced that due to various recent changes in the global financial landscape, such as the EU Savings Directive, Malta’s FATCA agreement with the United States, and other Tax Information Exchange Agreements with offshore centres, it was offering a final chance to comply and regularise one’s tax position, before it will start using the greater powers and tools it has to obtain information on undeclared assets.
The scheme was based on the lines of similar past schemes to date (in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007) follows global trends and others similar schemes abroad.
The ministry’s reply is more relevant following The Malta Independent investigation on Swiss Leaks, which revealed how to former Nationalist ministers held accounts in a Swiss Bank. On Sunday, The Malta Independent on Sunday also revealed that income tax returns submitted by Mr Falzon and Mr Zammit paint a modest picture of their earnings in the 1970s and 1980s and make no mention of their Swiss bank accounts. Both have been suspended by the Nationalist Party, with Mr Falzon issuing a public apology for his “omissions” and “failures”. Mr Zammit is still to declare what the amount in the account was, while Mr Falzon claimed that the account held €465,000.
