Maltese Government To Examine Tax On Independent Contractors

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

10 October 2001

According to new reports, one of the proposed measures due to be introduced in the Maltese government's next budget is a detailed examination of the income and taxation of independent contractors and self-employed workers on the island.

It is thought that the Finance Minister, John Dalli, will shift his focus from the employed middle classes, who have been the centrepiece of the last two budgets, to focus on 24 job sectors, including doctors, lawyers, accountants, consultants, teachers and engineers, whose income declarations have never really been examined in detail for the purposes of tax collection before.

The Maltese government recently launched a benchmarking scheme for gauging the earnings of self-employed contractors, having finalised the benchmarks a few weeks ago, and now hopes to root out tax evaders in the course of tax authority examinations over the next few months.

In parallel to these new moves, it was announced that the Maltese Tax Compliance Unit has been beefing up its online presence, and has created a data warehouse with online links to the VAT department, Customs, Company Registration, and Civil Registration. Further links are planned for the near future, in order to enable the TCU to cross-check information, and compile information on both individuals and sectors of taxpayers.

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