Malta’s Individual Investor Program and Malta Residence Visa programme (MRVP) are the most popular and highly successful investment migration programs in Europe. Today in the 2019 Budget speech the Finance minister announced the two programmes will be extended and strengthened with strong due diligence with the aim to attract talent, new investment making it ‘exclusive’ in the market.
During the 2019 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna has announced that the Individual Investor’s Programme (IIP) as well as the residence and visa programme will be ‘renewed and strengthened’ for yet another year, with the aim of making Malta’s passport ‘the most exclusive on the market’
Finance Minister Prof Scicluna said that through the programme Malta was attracting new investment, talent, and human resources, with contributions from philanthropic organisations making a difference to Maltese society – a reference to the National Development and Social Fund established through the programme. He said the programmes would continue to be improved, in order to remain competitive next to other countries which had similar schemes in place.
Prof Scicluna further added that Malta’s unprecedented economic growth had created high demand for workers, which had to be filled by foreign employees. He said that Government had simplified the process for residence and work permits, but that rules were there to be observed, which is why Identity Malta would be establishing an enforcement unit, adding its online facilities, and expanding its services in Gozo.
Malta’s 2019 budget introduced number of benefits with respect to property
- Buyers of property in Gozo will continue benefiting from a reduction in stamp duty from 5% to 2%
- Buyers of vacant property in urban conservation areas will continue benefiting from a reduction in stamp duty from 5% to 2.5%
- First time property buyers will keep being exempted from stamp duty on first €150,000 up to €5,000. Second time buyers will keep benefiting from a reduction in stamp duty up to €3,000
- Small NGOs with revenues of less than €10,000 will be tax exempt
- Rental agreements will need to be registered. Rent Subsidy will be reformed and increased from €1,600 to €3,600 annually for single persons, and from €2,000 to €5,000 annually for families with 2 or more children. Means testing on assets will be substituted by new benchmarks
- Reduction on stamp duty on family business transfers from 5% to 1.5% to be extended by a year
