Malta
Malta: 5 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment.
Forming a company
Company types in Malta
The 5 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
Forming and closing a Ltd
The headline facts; the steps, requirements and their sources are on its own page.
- Formation fee
- EUR 100
- Days to incorporate
- 1
- Formed remotely
- No
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Malta. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
AirwallexAirwallex business accountlist read 8 Oct 2026
PayseraPaysera business accountlist read 8 Oct 2026
- RevolutRevolut Business accountlist read 8 Oct 2026
StripeStripe account (payments)list read 8 Oct 2026
Checked, not listing Malta: Brex, bunq Business, Mercury, Qonto.
Publish no country list: N26 Business, Payoneer, PayPal Business, Wise Business. They may still serve it; ask them.
Payments and payroll
Services for taking payments, paying people and moving money, as each states where a business based in Malta may open an account.
- StripeOpen to a business based herelist read 18 Aug 2026
WiseOpen to a business based herelist read 18 Aug 2026
DeelOpen to a business based herelist read 18 Aug 2026- RevolutOpen to a business based herelist read 18 Aug 2026
AdyenOpen to a business based herelist read 18 Aug 2026
For individuals only here: PayPal.
Not available here: Square.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Malta: where to register, file and check.
Business registerMalta Business Registry (Registrar of Companies)mbr.mt
- Tax authorityMalta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA)mtca.gov.mt
- Tax treaties in forcecfr.gov.mtcfr.gov.mt
Business registerMalta Business Registry (MBR)mbr.mt
- Tax authorityCommissioner for Revenue (Office of the Commissioner for Revenue)cfr.gov.mt
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Malta belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- European Union: internal market and customs union
- Single market · since 2004
Covers goods, services, establishment, capital, movement of people, a common external tariff.
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EU Member State since 2004, Euro area member since 2008, Schengen area member since 2007 and more about Malta’s participation in the EU.
- European Union: VAT territory
- Inside it
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‘Community’ and ‘territory of the Community’ mean the territories of the Member States as defined in point (2);
- Euro area
- Monetary union · since 2008
Covers a common currency.
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EU Member State since 2004, Euro area member since 2008, Schengen area member since 2007 and more about Malta’s participation in the EU.
- Schengen area
- Free movement area · since 2007
Covers movement of people.
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EU Member State since 2004, Euro area member since 2008, Schengen area member since 2007 and more about Malta’s participation in the EU.
- European Economic Area
- Single market
Covers goods, movement of people, services, establishment, capital.
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which now covers the EU and its 27 Member States, and three of the four EFTA members: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 35%Official OECD Corporate Tax Statistics (combined CIT) as of 2025
- Distributions
- Profit taxed in the company when earned; dividends paid out of taxed accounts attract no further taxOfficial legislation.mt (Government of Malta)
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Any dividends paid out of profits allocated to the final tax account shall not be charged to further tax
- Audit
- No size threshold: every company appoints an auditor and its annual accounts are auditedOfficial legislation.mt (Government of Malta)
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A company shall, at each general meeting at which ... the annual accounts are laid, appoint an auditor or auditors to hold
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Annual return on each anniversary of registration, filed within 42 daysOfficial legislation.mt (Government of Malta)
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forwarded to the Registrar for registration within forty-two days after the date to which it is made up
- Annual registry fee
- EUR 85 electronic (EUR 100 paper) for authorised share capital up to EUR 1,500; EUR 100 to EUR 1,400 by capitalOfficial Malta Business Registry
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A payment between EUR100 and EUR1,400 depending on the authorised capital is to be submitted along with the Annual Return.
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Malta, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- 18%Official European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database situation on 2026-07-01
- Other rates
- 12% Supplies listed in the Fifth Schedule to the VAT Act
- 7% Supplies listed in the Fifth Schedule to the VAT Act
- 5% Supplies listed in the Fifth Schedule to the VAT Act
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The reduced rates applicable in Malta are 12%, 7%, 5% or 0%.
- Registration threshold
- EUR 35,000
domestic turnover (the domestic threshold for the article 11 small-enterprise scheme); calendar year
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A taxable person, established in Malta must register for VAT purposes under Article 10 of the VAT Act
- A foreign company
- Registers from its first taxable supply
The article 10 duty to register is framed for a taxable person established in Malta; a business making taxable supplies in Malta without establishment there registers from its first such supply, the article 11 small-enterprise threshold being a domestic scheme. The registration FAQ read says nothing on whether a representative must be appointed.
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Persons established outside Malta may also be liable to register for VAT in Malta
- Returns filed
- Quarterly
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submit periodic VAT returns (generally covering a three-month period) electronically by not later than the twenty-second (22nd) day of the second month following the month during which the relevant tax period ends
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Malta, tax year 2025, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 9 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
the company income tax return and self-assessment is submitted within nine months of the end of the financial year; companies whose financial year ends between 1 January and 30 June file by 31 March of the following year. For a financial year ending 31 December 2025 the deadline shown by the MTCA is 30 September 2026, with an electronic-filing extension to 27 November 2026 that does not apply to payments.
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The Tax Return and Self-Assessment for companies is to be submitted within nine (9) months from the end of the company’s financial year
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 9 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
the tax payable falls due by the same date as the return — the MTCA states that manual returns and all tax payments must reach the department by the due dates contemplated by the Income Tax Acts, and that the electronic-filing extensions do not apply to payments.
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The extensions for the Electronic filing of tax returns only apply to the submission of the online return itself, and not to tax payments
- Corporate tax, instalments
- 30 April · each quarter
provisional tax falls due in three instalments, on 30 April, 31 August and 21 December of each basis period (the rule carries the first instalment).
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(1) P.T. payments fall due on the 30th April, 31st August and 21st December of each basis period
- Personal income-tax return
- 30 June · each year
the individual income tax return and self-assessment is sent by 30 June; the MTCA allows online submission until 31 July.
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Individual taxpayers are obliged to send their Tax Return and self-assessment by 30th June
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 30 June · each year
any tax due not collected through the provisional tax system or through FSS withholding is paid by the tax-settlement due date, 30 June of the year following the year in which the income was earned; interest accrues on unpaid tax after 30 June.
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Any tax due not collected by these two systems is to be paid by the tax-settlement due date i.e the 30th June of the year following the year in which income was earned by means of the Self-Assessment
- Personal income tax, instalments
- 30 April · each quarter
provisional tax falls due in three instalments, on 30 April, 31 August and 21 December of each basis period (the rule carries the first instalment).
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(1) P.T. payments fall due on the 30th April, 31st August and 21st December of each basis period
- VAT return
- Day 15 of the following month · each quarter
the VAT return for every tax period is furnished by not later than the fifteenth day of the second month following the month during which that tax period ends (15 May for a quarter ending 31 March). Sole proprietors registered under article 10 who file online get seven days more, from the 15th day of the month.
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the Commissioner with a tax return for every tax period by not later ... than the fifteenth day of the second month following the month
- Payroll withholding
- 1 month after the end of the month · each month
every payer shall, by the last working day of the month following that during which he has made payments of emoluments, remit to the Commissioner the total amount of tax deducted or which should have been deducted therefrom, together with the form referred to in rule 20 (the FS5).
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Every payer shall, by the last working day of the ... month following that during which he has made payments of ... emoluments, remit to the Commissioner the total amount of tax
Running the company
Running a company here
What it takes to keep a company in good standing in Malta: the full guide is on each form’s own page.
Running a Private Limited Liability Company (kumpanija privata) (Ltd)
20 obligations for one shareholder who is the sole director, with who may do each, when, and how.
- The director can do
- 18 of its 20 obligations
personally, through the authorities’ own services.
- A professional the law requires
- A company secretary Keep the office of company secretary filled
- A licensed auditor — unless the company is a private company that on its balance sheet date does not exceed at least two of Statutory audit of the annual accounts
- Not required here
- Identity verification of directors with the registry · General business or trade licence renewal · Mandatory workplace pension or provident scheme · Insurance an employer must hold by law · Notification of processing and the data protection fee (abolished) · Municipal or local tax on companies or premises
Not yet covered: PLC, Partnership en nom collectif, LP, Sole trader (self-employed person). Each form has its own requirements.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Malta exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Malta’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations; waste oils HS 2710 | 8.9% | 38.7% | 25.9% | US$1.8 bn |
| Electronic integrated circuits HS 8542 | 25.2% | 16.9% | 16.1% | US$1.1 bn |
| Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale HS 3004 | 10.7% | 7.8% | 9.9% | US$699 m |
| Unused postage, revenue or similar stamps of current or new issue in the country in which they have, or will have, a recognised face value; stamp-impressed paper; banknotes; cheque forms; stock, share or bond certificates and similar documents of title HS 4907 | 5.1% | 3.5% | 4.0% | US$282 m |
| Other aircraft (for example, helicopters, aeroplanes), except unmanned aircraft of heading 8806; spacecraft (including satellites) and suborbital and spacecraft launch vehicles HS 8802 | 0.16% | 0.73% | 3.5% | US$248 m |
| Light-vessels, fire-floats, dredgers, floating cranes, and other vessels the navigability of which is subsidiary to their main function; floating docks; floating or submersible drilling or production platforms HS 8905 | 0.44% | 0.23% | 3.1% | US$219 m |
| Fish fillets and other fish meat (whether or not minced), fresh, chilled or frozen HS 0304 | 4.1% | 2.4% | 2.3% | US$166 m |
| Tricycles, scooters, pedal cars and similar wheeled toys; dolls' carriages; dolls; other toys; reduced-size (scale) models and similar recreational models, working or not; puzzles of all kinds HS 9503 | 3.3% | 1.9% | 2.2% | US$156 m |
| Cruise ships, excursion boats, ferry-boats, cargo ships, barges and similar vessels for the transport of persons or goods HS 8901 | 2.4% | 2.9% | 1.9% | US$131 m |
| Electrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits, or for making connections to or in electrical circuits (for example, switches, relays, fuses, surge suppressors, plugs, sockets, lamp holders and other connectors, junction boxes), for a voltage not exceeding 1000 V; connectors for optical fibres, optical fibre bundles or cables HS 8536 | 2.7% | 1.9% | 1.8% | US$125 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$7.1 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.