New Malta VAT rate - Introduction
On 6 October 2023, Legal Notice 231 was published by the Maltese government. The Notice amended the Eighth Schedule of the Value Added Tax Act in Malta (Chapter 406 of the Laws of Malta). Broadly, this amendment introduced a reduced VAT rate of 12% for specific servicesNew Malta VAT rate - Deeper cuts
The Notice transposes paragraph 5 of Article 105a of Council Directive 2006/112/EC, as amended by Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 in April 2022. This obliges Member States to provide detailed rules for applying reduced rates, not lower than 12%, to specific transactions by October 7, 2023.The Eight Schedule
The Eighth Schedule of the VAT Act in Malta specifies the tax rates for particular supplies and imported goods, offering a reduction from the standard rate of 18%. With the publication of this Legal Notice, four new services are included, all subject to the reduced VAT rate of 12%.Newly introduced services
The newly introduced services are as follows:- Custody and management of securities;
- Management of credit and credit guarantees, excluding those who grant credit. (Credit management by those granting credit is already exempt without credit as per the VAT Act.)
- Hiring of pleasure boats, with the condition that they are not rented for more than five weeks when aggregating rental time during the previous year.
- Services related to the care of the human body, provided by regulated healthcare professionals in accordance with the Health Care Professions Act (Chapter 464 of the Laws of Malta). This includes services offered in health studio businesses or similar enterprises, excluding exempt supplies. This addition aligns with the guidelines issued by the Malta Tax and Customs Authority (MTCA) in September concerning VAT exemptions for certain healthcare services.