Malta Mini-Budget June 2020

Fiscal Measures Support

Yesterday, the government of Malta has announced a new set of initiatives to help the economy get back on track. These were the most salient points which were announced yesterday:

Consumption
• Cash vouchers of €100 for those aged over 16.
• Fuel prices reduced by 7c.

Immovable Property
• Reduction from 8% to 5% in the tax rate on sale of Property.
• Reduction from 5% to 1.5% in the duty paid on Property.
• First-time buyers scheme to be less restricted.

Business Costs
• Businesses can benefit from aid for the rental costs up to €2,500.
• Businesses can benefit from payment of 50% of the Water & Electricity bill up to €1,500.

Wage Supplement & Tax Deferrals
• Improved in-work benefits.
• Wage Supplement will be extended till September for some industries.
• Wage Supplement will be reduced for some industries from €800 to €600 for Full-timers and from €500 to €350 for Part-timers.
• Other industries will be shifted from Annex A to Annex B.
• Wage Supplement will also include Students and Pensioners.
• Deferrals of social security and income tax deductions made by employers from workers’ pay till July.
• Payment of other due taxes not deferred is being put off to May.

Licences
• The payment of trade and MTA licences is being waived for this year.

Investment Market
• In case of a roll-over of bonds, the Malta Investment Bank will underwrite any balance of the bonds which is not taken up once more.
• In case of bank loans, the Government of Malta has applied with the EU so that the bank collateral should not exceed 20% of the loan.

Reduction in charges
• Importers will enjoy a 33% reduction of port charges and a 10% refund on container discharge fees, excluding transshipment, for a period of six months.

Refunds
• Businesses will get an 80% refund of the costs of cancelled overseas trade fair participation.
• Compensation of up to €2,000 to couples whose wedding was postponed.

Grants and Tax Credits
• 30% of credits by businesses in the micro-invest scheme operated by Malta Enterprise will be converted to grants up to €2,000. That cap rises to €2,500 for Gozitan businesses.
• Companies can also receive up to €5,000 in government grants to re-engineer their business model.
• Malta Enterprise will allocate €5m on the Skills Development Scheme used mainly for the in-house training of employees.
• The Trade Malta agency will also help companies with grants of up to €10,000 for the digital promotion of their products in overseas markets.
• There will also be a €5m allocation to be used by businesses to advertise their product locally and abroad.
• The Malta Investment Bank will also allocate €10 million on export credit guarantees for the development of new markets, mostly in Africa.
• A measure originally announced in the Budget but now improved, will see contractors receive up to €200,000 for new, more environment-friendly equipment.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 20109800 or send us an email on dbusuttil@hlbmalta.com