What a Malta company must file every year
Owning a Maltese company is a calendar of filings. Miss one and the tax refund stops. Here is the full list and when each is due.
A Maltese company is cheap to keep in good standing and expensive to let slip. Every obligation below has a penalty attached, and the one that matters most is not a fine: a company whose accounts and returns are not in order cannot pay a dividend that supports a tax refund, so the 5% effective rate depends on this calendar being kept.
With the Malta Business Registry
Annual return. Due on the anniversary of registration, with a fee that depends on the authorised share capital. It confirms the registered office, the directors, the secretary and the shareholders.
Annual financial statements. Every company must prepare financial statements and, with limited exemptions for the smallest companies, have them audited by a Maltese registered auditor. A private company must lay the accounts before its general meeting within ten months of the financial year end and file them with the Registry within a further 42 days. The default financial year end is 31 December.
Register of beneficial owners. Every company keeps a register of the natural persons who ultimately own or control it, files it with the Registry, and confirms it annually with the annual return. Changes are notified within fourteen days.
Changes as they happen. A change of director, secretary, registered office or shareholder is notified to the Registry on the prescribed form within the statutory period, generally fourteen days.
With the Malta Tax and Customs Administration
Corporate income tax return. Due nine months after the financial year end, so by 30 September for a December year end, with the electronic filing extensions the administration publishes each year. Tax is settled through provisional tax payments during the year and a balance on filing. A company claiming the refund system files a dividend warrant and the shareholder files the refund claim after distribution.
VAT returns. A company registered under Article 10 files quarterly returns, generally due six weeks after the end of the period. A company registered under Article 11 files an annual declaration. Recapitulative statements and Intrastat apply to intra-EU trade.
Payroll. A company with employees deducts tax and social security under the Final Settlement System, remits them monthly, and files the annual FS7 and FS3 forms.
With the registered office
Maltese law requires a registered office in Malta and a company secretary, who need not be a Maltese resident but must be an individual. Minutes of board and shareholder meetings, the statutory registers and the accounting records are kept at the registered office and must be available to the Registry and to the tax administration.
What a full year costs
The government fees are small. The professional cost is the accounting, the audit and the tax return, which scale with the company's activity. A dormant holding company and a trading company with fifty invoices a month are different engagements, and a quotation should say which one it is pricing.
Frequently asked questions
- Does every Malta company need an audit?
- Nearly every one. Maltese law requires audited financial statements, with narrow exemptions for the smallest companies. The audit is also what makes the accounts acceptable for a tax refund claim.
- When is the Malta corporate tax return due?
- Nine months after the financial year end, so 30 September for a company with a 31 December year end, subject to the electronic-filing extensions published each year.
- What happens if the annual return is filed late?
- The Registry charges a penalty that increases with the delay, and a company that stays in default can be struck off. A struck-off company's assets pass to the government until it is restored.