Malta’s Minister for Finance, Professor Edward Scicluna, has welcomed the release of a report authored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which shows Malta’s tax compliance rates highly among the top economies in the world.
Malta has unfairly suffered from an erroneous perception that it presents an additional risk to investors. Without naming the sources of these damaging rumours, the Minister for Finance has labelled them as malicious. Competition for investments among countries is intense, which leads some self-interested competitors to poison the minds of investors with blatant lies. These damaging lies are now exposed.
The International Tax Co-Operation Report clearly shows that Malta is a good international citizen, and investors are right to place their confidence in its markets.
The 2017 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) International Tax Co-Operation Report shows Malta’s tax compliance is highly trustworthy. The results of investigations into the tax systems of the top 140 economies were peer reviewed to ensure high accuracy.
Malta Tax System Highly Compliant – Professor Edward Scicluna
Three key functional tax areas were considered: Exchange of Information on Request (EOIR), Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), and the BEPS initiative outcomes. Combined, these measures indicate both compliance and openness of the economy to taxation matters.
Exchange of Information on Request is rated as highly compliant, ensuring investors and markets are well informed and can receive further information in a timely manner. This results in strong market confidence and an increase in investor interest.
High Confidence in Malta’s Tax System
The report also covered other taxation metrics.
- Intellectual property rights
- Banking and insurance
- Holding companies
- Fund management instruments
- Shipping
- Financing and leasing
- Distribution and service centres
The report reviewed these areas for profit shifting and base erosion. The result reported no “harmful features” for Malta investors.
Minister Scicluna highlighted that the OECD report shows that Malta meets or exceeds all international investment standards, especially in regards to the open exchange of information related to compliance and investigations. Investors can now be highly confident that Malta’s tax regulations provide them with full transparency.
