Malta Investment Aid Tax Credits

Malta Enterprise Launches Revised Investment Aid Tax Credits

Malta Enterprise, the para-government arm that promotes foreign direct investment in Malta, has announced a series of fresh schemes for the period running until 2014 in a bid to promote and incentive industrial and economic development in Malta.

The schemes apply to initial investments – be them of tangible or intangible assets.  Applicants seeking to setup a new start-up, diversify the output or an existing concern or simply change the overall production process of an existing establishment.

The schemes apply to a series of sectors, concentrated in the industry sectors such as manufacturing and R&Ds, as well as in the service industry such as call centres, audio-visual productions and ICT.  Educational and medical services are also eligible.

The investment aid is calculated in a sliding scale, depending on the size of the applicant, and range from a maximum of 35% for small enterprises to a minimum of 15% for large enterprises or hotels.  The aforesaid tax credits are calculated as a percentage of qualifying expenditure provided that such assets (tangible or intangible) satisfy a number of cumulative criteria, these being:

• The assets must be first time used in Malta;
• Have been acquired from a third party; and
• Kept of a minimum of three (3) years for SMEs and five (5) years for large companies

Under the new rules, wage costs are also eligible, insofar that the qualifying wage costs include the wages covering new employments created within three (3) years of the completion of the investment project and are directly connected with the economy activity.

Applications, which may be processed on behalf of clients, shall be entertained, insofar that Malta Enterprise is satisfied that such investments positively contribute to the development of the Maltese economy.

The aforesaid schemes, are a welcome innovation towards the cementing of Malta as an attractive hub for foreign direct investment, tied to job creation and economic development, and follow in the path of similar schemes successfully implemented and subscribed to by investors eager to espouse Malta’s attractive fiscal regime, with tangible, on-the-ground development.