The Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) recently announced the establishment of the Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) designed to provide a specialised, coordinated, and integrated service to large companies as well as High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) who meet specific eligibility criteria.
The eligibility criteria for companies are:
- Annual turnover exceeding €20 million in any year of assessment from 2020 to 2022 and having at least 50 employees in any basis year from 2019 to 2022, or
- Annual turnover exceeding €20 million in any year of assessment from 2020 to 2022 and having domestic VAT supplies in excess of €10 million for year of assessment 2022.
The eligibility criteria for HNWIs are:
- A shareholding of 25%, whether directly or indirectly, in a company that has total assets in excess of €50 million in any year during the last 5 years, or
- Property acquisitions exceeding €3 million since basis year 2021, or
- Declared income of more than €2 million in any year of assessment between 2021 and 2023.
The qualifying status of taxpayers will be reviewed every three years and it is at the discretion of the tax authorities to add or remove taxpayers from the list of large taxpayers.
The services offered to taxpayers who qualify for the LTO include:
- Monitoring and processing of tax returns and payments as well as taking appropriate action following receipt of taxpayer documents,
- Handling enquiries, rulings, interpretations, requests, and complaints,
- Exemption and tax clearance certificate applications,
- Processing tax refunds,
- Special attention to taxpayers with complex tax issues.
The taxpayers will be grouped into four sectors as follows:
- Tourism, Wholesale and Retail,
- Gaming and Financial Services,
- Construction and Manufacturing,
- High Net Worth Individuals.
The setting up of the LTO and the dedicated service to large taxpayers is also intended to build up a relationship based on a proactive approach in order to streamline the administrative and compliance obligations of taxpayers.
At EMCS we will continue to act as tax representatives for large taxpayers in order to further enhance the relationship between the taxpayer and the tax authorities.
