Executives Give Thumbs Up To Malta’s Tax Environment

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

01 August 2005

The corporate tax environment in Malta is considered to be very attractive to companies, according to a survey by the accounting firm Ernst & Young.

The Malta Attractiveness Survey 2005, conducted among top executives of foreign-owned companies and banks based in Malta, found that 90% of the executives considered that the corporate tax regime in Malta was very or fairly attractive.

“Investment tax credits have been very attractive to companies. However it is important for a company to know what the corporate rate of tax would be over a period of time," stated the report.

The survey respondents also noted that Malta must sign a double taxation avoidance agreement with the United States in order to improve its international competitiveness.

In the banking sector, industry executives found local expertise to be fairly or very attractive, although it was felt by the respondents that more should be done to make Malta into a financial services hub for the Mediterranean and North Africa. The survey also found that executives across all sectors think that not enough is being done to promote the island's advantages to the global business community.

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