Malta’s Advantages as a Business and Financial Centre

If you are looking for alternative opportunities for your international business activities you should be considering Malta’s potential as the right jurisdiction for you. With attractive fiscal advantages and business costs being amongst the lowest in Europe, the number of international businesses establishing a presence in Malta is growing at a steady rate, as entrepreneurs worldwide take advantage of its unique benefits within the European Union.

The Advantages of Maltese Companies and other setups can be summarised as follows:

  • A full Member State of the European Union and part of the Eurozone, providing Malta-based businesses with instant access to the EU’s internal market of over 500 million people;
  • Strategic location, being within 3 hours direct flight time from Europe’s major financial centres;
  • Accessible and forward-looking regulators having a pragmatic and pro-business approach towards regulation;
  • Comprehensive financial legislation catering inter alia for the regulation of Malta hedge funds, investment services providers, banking and financial institutions, and retail and captive insurance business;
  • EU passporting rights for certain classes of financial services licences granted by the Maltese authorities;
  • Entitlement of non-resident persons to various levels of tax refunds, based on Malta’s full imputation tax system;
  • A Corporate income tax rate of 35% which can be reduced to between 0% and 5% in the hands of shareholders. Such rates are achieved through the application of various levels of tax refunds available to shareholders not being tax resident in Malta;
  • No Maltese withholding tax applied on the distribution of dividends to shareholders of Maltese companies;
  • A network of double taxation treaties with over 70 states;
  • Political stability coupled with unanimous political support for the country’s position as an international business and financial services centre of excellence;
  • An educated, dedicated and multi-lingual workforce having a strong work ethic;
  • Availability of specialised professionals at competitive rates;
  • Presence of all major audit firms;
  • Possibility of re-domiciling or continuing companies into and out of Malta, providing the option of preserving the continuity of a company’s legacy, reputation and financial track-record;
  • A banking sector, composed of a combination of solid and reliable Maltese banks and major international banks, providing the highest standards of service to corporate and private clients;
  • Availability of state-of-the-art hosting and connectivity technology;
  • State-of-the-art transhipment and distribution facilities
  • Attractive package of business incentives;
  • Convenient Central European Time zone;
  • Safe, secure and pleasant Mediterranean lifestyle.