Malta's New 2013 Permanent Residence Scheme Announced
The Government of Malta has announced that a new permanent residence scheme shall be launched by end of May.
It is expected that the new permanent residence scheme retains elements of the former Malta Permanent Residency Scheme, a scheme that was available to both EU and non-EU nationals seeking to transfer their tax residence to Malta and benefit from its high quality and tax-efficient regime.
In the Labour's party annual General Conference, upon presenting the intention to lauch this new scheme, the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also instroduced the new concept of having a specialised government agency that will tkae over any services related to the permanent residence scheme, including the citizenship, visas, and residency matters.
Malta's High Net Worth Individual Tax Rules
The former Malta Permanent Residence Scheme had evolved into new High Net Worth Individual Tax Rules in 2012. At present this scheme offers permanent residence permits to HNWIs along the lines of the original PR Scheme but subject to a number of new rules, including new and increased minimum property value thresholds for property purchased or leased in Malta and new applicable minimum tax levels.
The HNWI scheme also had offered the possibility of taking up employment and conducting a business activity in Malta and still being subject to the same flat rate of personal tax of 15%. Accordingly, HNWIs are not taxable on foreign source income not received in Malta and are also not taxable on any capital gains arising outside Malta, whether remitted to Malta or otherwise.
It is envisaged that the new 2013 Permanenet Residence Scheme will retain the advantages of its predecessors whilst also offering solutions that might not have been catered for under the High Net Worth Individual Scheme.
