MALTA COMPANIES
The incorporation of Maltese Companies, which are EU compliant and
EU approved, offer
substantial tax incentives and other advantages to shareholders. Until
31 December 2006, Malta used to allow the incorporation of International
Trading Companies and International
Holding Companies, which allowed a special tax rate to the
non-resident shareholders of these companies. With effect from the 1st January 2007
significant amendments to the Income Tax law have been introduced to
remove the distinction between resident and non-resident shareholders,
thus making Maltese companies compliant with EU regulations.
The
effect of the amendments are that in place of the old International
Trading Companies and International
Holding Companies, Malta will allow the
incorporation of Malta Companies
which can have multiple or mixed sources
of income (holding, trading or passive investment income) at very
advantageous tax rates.
Briefly,
the main advantages of a Malta Company are the following:
-
Free trade within the EU
since Malta has joined the EU on May 1, 2004
-
Annual
audited accounts - the submission of audited accounts to the
Inland Revenue proves that the company is not a tax evasion structure
-
Low
effective tax rate on world wide profits as follows:
-
0%
on dividends received from a participating holding, that is:
(i)
where the
parent company holds at least 10% of the equity in the subsidiary; or
(ii) holds an investment in the subsidiary of at least Eur 1.5 million
and holds that investment for more than 183 days)
-
0%
on capital gains made from the disposal of a participating holding
-
5%
on dividends from
non-participating holdings
-
5%
on trading income
-
10%
on passive income (interest, royalties etc)
-
Complete anonymity of the beneficial owners
-
European
Union VAT number for EU VAT trading (where applicable)
-
No
withholding tax on distribution of dividends to the shareholders
-
48-hour registration
If you wish to learn more about this type of company, go
to our new Malta
Company pages. If you wish to get information about
companies registered under the old system, please go to our old pages on International
Trading Companies and International
Holding Companies.
Page last updated on
Copyright 2000: Griscti & Chetcuti, Advocates
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