Malta Budget 2022 Overview

The Malta Budget 2022 comes at a time when Malta is making inroads to recover economically from the impact of the pandemic. Real GDP is forecast to grow by 6.5% in 2022 while unemployment remains contained at very low figures. These indicators are promising for Malta’s fortunes over the next years. The Malta Budget for 2022 introduced no new taxes, rather it presented a raft of new incentives and benefits to steer the country forward.

Check out this year’s Malta Budget 2023.

Tax and Property Purchase

In a drive to promote the regeneration of Malta’s traditional village cores, a series of tax exemptions and grants have been announced in the Malta Budget 2022:

• Exemption from property transfers tax and duty on documents and transfers on the first EUR 750,000 of the price of qualifying properties that:
  • Were built over 20 years ago and have been vacant for more than 7 years;
  • Are built in an urban conservation area (UCA); or
  • Are new properties built in a traditional Maltese style.
• First-time buyers of such properties will further benefit from a grant of €15,000 (€30,000 for Gozitan first-time buyers of such properties in Gozo).
• VAT refunds for the restoration and renovation of qualifying property have also been extended and improved.  
• These measures are effective as from 12 October 2021, for a period of 3 years.
• The current partial reduction of stamp duty and income tax on capital gains will not be renewed. This remains in force and will expire in June 2022.

Tax benefits for businesses

The Malta Budget 2022 introduced a new concept to attract start-ups to the island.

• Malta Enterprise and Community Malta shall develop this program of “start-up visas”
• Objective is to attract non-EU entrepreneurs to invest in Malta
• A tax benefit will be launched for businesses that invest in eligible projects of the same business or investments in different businesses.
• Succession in family businesses is boosted with a measure that will see a reduction to only 1.5% duty paid on the transfer inter vivos of family businesses to descendants.  

Environmental Sector

The environment sector in Malta gets its biggest ever financial boost, as a number of new initiatives are rolled out in the Malta Budget 2022.

• Public and private partnerships will be promoted to invest in green projects that create carbon credit.
• Such credits may be acquired by other public or private bodies to reach carbon goals.
• A carbon farming initiative has been launched to incentivize usage of idle agricultural land into Agroforestry systems.