Further to the changes relative to the beneficial ownership register brought about by the 5th AML Directive), transposed into Maltese legislation by means of Legal Notice 26 of 2020 (Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism (Amendment) Regulations, 2020), Article 5(3) of the Income Tax Management Act is being amended (effective from 1 June 2020) so that the relevant certificate issued in terms of the said Article would only be considered as compliant where it identifies and discloses all the beneficiaries and ultimate beneficial owners of relevant trust/fiduciary arrangements.
In line with these developments, the Commissioner for Revenue notifies that any company that has registered its shareholders in terms of the Tax Refunds and Registration Procedure Rules should, where such company has not already complied with such requirement, revise such registration by disclosing online (through the CFR website) all the direct and indirect beneficial owners of the shareholder/s registered for refund under Part C titled ‘Details of the ultimate individual beneficiaries in the indirect shareholder line’. Where there are trustees/fiduciaries involved, the relevant details of the persons on behalf of whom such trustees/fiduciaries are acting should also be disclosed.
