ARTICLE · 24 FEBRUARY 2009

Malta’s Holding Regime

Pisco Partners

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Malta is fast becoming a serious competitor of existing EU jurisdictions as a financial centre, holding location as well as for investment funds. The financial services sector has grown exponentially over the past few years and the upward trend is expected to continue.

MaltaTax

Ramona Piscopo

Introduction

Malta is fast becoming a serious competitor of existing EU jurisdictions as a financial centre, holding location as well as for investment funds. The financial services sector has grown exponentially over the past few years and the upward trend is expected to continue.

According to the 2008 Forbes Tax Misery and Reform Index¹, Malta has been classified as the fifth most tax-friendly country in the world and the first in the EU, in terms of taxes and social security contributions paid out by companies. The index measures the amount of increased 'misery' or 'reform' toward company tax-friendliness since it began tracking progress in 2000.

Malta offers a number of advantages and features as a tax jurisdiction: it does not levy any withholding tax on outbound dividends, interest and royalties, it has no thin capitalisation rules or debt-to-equity ratios, it has no capital duty and wealth taxes and no stamp duties on share transfers in companies owned

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