Category: Malta

Armenia, Malta sign double tax treaty

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on September 24 met with Malta’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Armenian ministry told Armenpress. The officials praised the current dynamic… – Continue reading

Australia publishes synthesized text of tax treaties with France, Finland, Malta as altered by MLI

The Australian government on August 9 published the synthesized texts of Australia’s bilateral tax treaties with France, Finland, and Malta as modified by the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI). ... - Continue reading

Malta: How Beneficial Owners Registers Aim To Curb Money Laundering And Tax Evasion

With more complicated company structures being used, it has become increasingly more difficult to establish who the ultimate beneficial owners of entities are. In light of the new regulation, do you believe that the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) Register can help in any way to prevent financial crime? The UBO… – Continue reading

Malta: Malta Citizenship And Residency By Investment (8 February, 2019)

As of 2019, the Individual Investor Program has received more than 1000 Malta passport applications on behalf of investors from more than 40 different countries. The Malta Individual Investor Programme (MIIP) offers high and ultra-high net worth individuals and families worldwide citizenship in a highly respected EU Member Country. Malta,… – Continue reading

Antigua and Barbuda and Malta discuss Citizenship by Investment programmes

Prior to the commencement of the World Economic Forum at Davos on Wednesday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne held a bilateral meeting with the Finance Minister of Malta, Edward Scicluna. According to a release from Antigua and Barbuda’s Director General of Communications, Maurice Merchant, the main items on the agenda for… – Continue reading

EU Details Action Plan On Money Laundering

European Union finance ministers worked out a plan for combating money laundering and also made a deal on major bank reform on Tuesday (Dec. 4), according to reports from Reuters. The money laundering plan is a response to highly visible cases of alleged criminal activity at EU banks in countries… – Continue reading

Ireland, Malta Close ‘Single Malt’ Tax Avoidance Structure

Ireland and Malta have agreed to close the “Single Malt” – an aggressive tax planning structure in which some multinational corporations use a company incorporated in Ireland but tax-resident in Malta. The Competent Authority Agreement – entered into as per the provisions of Article 24 (mutual agreement procedure) of the… – Continue reading

Malta’s residency, citizenship schemes ‘pose high-risk to integrity of Common Reporting Standard’

The Organisation for Economic and Social Development named and shamed 22 countries out of over 100 it studied that have either residency or citizenship programmes, for having lax rules that potentially pose high-risk to the integrity of Common Reporting Standard’. Malta, which has long cited the OECD’s endorsement of its… – Continue reading

NBI probe in Turku targets real estate firm, nabs third suspect

A large-scale police operation into money laundering appears to have targeted the Airiston Helmi real estate firm, led by a Russian man with Maltese citizenship. An exceptionally large police operation took place in southwest Finland this weekend, in what the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said was an extensive search… – Continue reading

Crypto Islands as Double Offshore

There is a small island in the Caribbean … You immediately imagine relaxation, a beach, palm trees. However today in these small areas a really big crypto history is being created. The crypto business is increasingly mastering the jurisdiction of “dwarf” states, such as Cyprus, Malta, Gibraltar, The Republic of… – Continue reading

Konrad Mizzi instructed accountants to backdate New Zealand trust documents

While Panama Papers revealed his offshore companies, Konrad Mizzi was giving instructions to backdate changes to his New Zealand holdings Konrad Mizzi instructed New Zealand accountants to backdate documents after the Panama Papers exposed his offshore interests in 2016, The Australian Financial Review reported. Last month, The Shift News reported… – Continue reading

Malta Ratifies BEPS Convention

Malta has become the latest country to ratify the OECD’s multilateral convention to counter base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). A notice was published in Legal Notice 142 of 2018 in the territory’s Official Gazette. The Convention, negotiated by more than 100 countries and jurisdictions under a mandate from G20… – Continue reading

Malta Backs EU Crackdown On Aggressive Tax Planning

Malta has reiterated its commitment to fighting aggressive tax planning, joining other EU member states who have unanimously agreed to amend the EU’s tax information sharing law, the Directive on Administrative Cooperation. The amendments to the Directive, which were agreed last week by EU finance ministers, will require intermediaries, such… – Continue reading

Malta makes 518 mln euros from its citizenship by investment scheme

VALLETTA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) — Malta has generated 518 million euros since it started its citizenship by investment scheme, according to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Replying to a parliamentary question on Wednesday, Muscat said that of the total revenue generated, 363 million euros had entered in the country’s National Development… – Continue reading

OECD report shows Malta is tax compliant jurisdiction: official

VALLETTA, Jan.11 (Xinhua) — The 2017 International Tax Co-Operation Report published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)showed Malta to be a tax compliant jurisdiction ,the Maltese Finance Ministry said on Thursday. “This is exactly what we have been stating all along in the face of unfair criticism… – Continue reading

State aid: Commission approves the Maltese tonnage tax scheme subject to commitments

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said “Tonnage tax systems are meant to promote the competitiveness of the EU shipping industry in a global market without unduly distorting competition. I am pleased that Malta committed to adapt its tonnage tax system to achieve this. Moreover, by encouraging the… – Continue reading

PANA report ‘confirms’ Malta ‘not a tax haven’

FinanceMalta, the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and the Gozo Business Chamber have welcomed the PANA Committee’s confirmation that the Maltese tax system is in line with current international and EU standards. Furthermore,according to the Committee, Malta has transposed EU rules and respects… – Continue reading

PANA committee calls for increased focus on virtual currencies, new technologies such as FinTech

The European Parliament’s PANA Committee has approved draft recommendations calling for increased scrutiny and regulation of emerging technologies, including virtual currencies and FinTech. The committee also approved a report delving into the findings of an 18-month probe into breaches of EU law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and… – Continue reading

Small EU countries need tax competition tools to compensate for major disadvantages – Sant

Maltese MEP and former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said that small EU countries and islands use tax competition tools in order to compensate for major competitive disadvantages due to their limited endowments and distance from major markets. Along with Malta, even Ireland and Cyprus have notably expressed their great concerns… – Continue reading

EU Countries Seek Legislative End-Around on Digital Tech Tax

EU nations led by France and Italy reinforced the need for an “equalization tax” or turnover tax on large internet companies such as Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., and suggested they would use special legislative procedures to impose one in the event all 28 EU-member countries don’t back the levy…. – Continue reading

Donohoe says Ireland opposes ‘equalisation tax’ at EU meeting

The proposals plan to tax giant digital companies on turnover rather than profits EU finance ministers have agreed to step up technical work on harmonising the taxation of the giant digital companies with a view to debating “possible solutions” at their December meeting. The ministerial consensus was a significant setback… – Continue reading

Malta’s corporate tax system is unfair – PANA Committee Chairman Werner Langen

PANA Committee Chairman Werner Langen has argued that Malta’s corporate tax system is unfair, while addressing the PANA committee this evening. He was addressing the PANA Committee earlier today, during the discussion regarding the draft recommendations on the PANA Committee findings. A PANA Committee MEP had mentioned that the criteria… – Continue reading

Malta Outlines Last Offer on Public Country-by-Country Reports

European Union-based multinational companies that exceed consolidated revenue of 750 million euros ($840 million) for two consecutive years would have to report publicly on taxes paid, profits earned, and persons employed on a country-by-country basis, under a proposal from Malta. Malta holds the EU presidency, a position it will turn… – Continue reading

The Malta Files: a European version of the Panama Papers, revealing a global web of corruption

On Friday, a variety of news outlets around the world published the Malta Files, a cache of 150,000 documents leaked “from a Malta-based provider of legal, financial and corporate services,” revealing, among other things, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was secretly given a $25M oil tanker (!) by Azeri… – Continue reading

Row Ignites After Germany Slams ‘Tax Haven’ Malta

Norbert Walter-Borjans has been busy turning himself into the public scourge of German tax cheats and foreign tax havens. Having already riled Switzerland by buying CDs with stolen bank account data – and then accusing the Alpine state of spying on his tax offices – North Rhine-Westphalia’s finance minister criticized… – Continue reading

Data leak reveals details of 70,000 offshore firms in Malta, German state minister claims

Malta denies claims A data leak has revealed information about 70,000 offshore companies in Malta, a German state minister claimed this morning. North Rhine-Westphalia finance minister Norbert Walter-Borjans said the data also included information about several German corporations and up to 2,000 German taxpayers. Tax authorities in the city of… – Continue reading

Malta Pushes to Ease EU Cross-Border Interest, Withholding Tax

European Union presidency holder Malta has launched a new attempt to salvage pending EU legislation designed to eliminate withholding taxes for cross-border interest and royalty payments in the EU single market. One of the key hurdles the Interest and Royalties Directive has faced in the Council of Economic and Financial… – Continue reading

UK: The UK Company: A New Alternative For International Investors?

This article is the first of a series of articles that looks at tax aspects of the UK company which make it an attractive international business company, or “IBC”. This generic label, and its acronym, are normally associated with the BVI company, and its international competitors. An essential feature of… – Continue reading

€8 billion annual risk of money laundering

Malta’s threat places it 20th out of 27 states, Pana Committee told Malta faces an annual €8 billion money laundering risk, according to figures quoted in a study presented to the European Parliament’s Pana committee. The committee, which visited Malta in February for a fact-finding mission on the island’s involvement… – Continue reading