Malta has over the past years managed to attract a considerable amount of investment on the basis of its legal and regulatory framework, lower costs of production and labour costs, effective taxation, geographical location and logistical support and the availability of professional services.
Malta is a well regulated jurisdiction, is a member of the European union and the Euro Zone and its laws are fully compliant with EU laws. Malta adopted the first EU Anti-Money laundering directive in 1994 and has always adhered to all relevant international agreements, both within and outside the European Union. Such agreements include those that provide for automatic exchange of information to promote tax transparency. Malta is also a jurisdiction that has consistently transposed EU legislation into domestic laws and has actively participated in all EU initiatives aimed at tax transparency including the recent Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), which is the European union’s response to BEPS. Malta has in fact, together with other Member States in the ECOFIN, approved ATAD 1 in June 2016 and during its Presidency acquired all Member States’ approval to ATAD 2 in February 2017.
Malta’s tax system is neither discriminatory nor harmful and is fully compliant with OECD’s principles. Malta is also an early adopter for CRS, FATCA and Country by Country Reporting and has fully committed itself to the BEPS project of the OECD, in its fight against tax evasion. Furthermore, its tax laws do not infringe the EU’s Four Freedoms and the principle of non-discrimination.
