🇲🇹 Malta
Malta’s full-imputation tax system can bring the effective corporate rate down to around 5% after shareholder refunds, within a fully EU framework.
Who it suits
Who it does not
Living
An English-speaking EU island in the Mediterranean with a warm climate, strong gaming and finance sectors and a sizeable international community.
Business
A private limited company is the standard vehicle; Malta is especially established for iGaming, financial services and holding structures.
Tax
The headline 35% corporate rate is offset by shareholder refunds that commonly reduce the effective rate to about 5%. Full EU VAT and treaty access apply.
Figures are indicative and change over time. We confirm the current rules, rates and requirements for your specific situation before you commit.
How incorporation works
- Name and structureReserve the name with the Malta Business Registry and settle shareholders, directors and the company secretary. Most Maltese companies have two shareholders; a single-member company is possible but carries extra conditions.
- Share capitalDecide the authorised and issued capital and pay in the required portion before registration. The bank deposit slip forms part of the filing.
- Constitutive documentsDraft the memorandum and articles, including an objects clause that genuinely matches the business. Licensed activities go to the regulator before they reach the registry.
- RegistrationFile with the Malta Business Registry, which issues the registration number and the certificate.
- Tax registrationRegister the company for income tax, and for VAT where the activity requires it. Register the shareholders as well — the refund is claimed by them, not by the company.
- Beneficial ownershipFile the register of beneficial owners with the registry and keep it current.
- Office and secretaryPut the registered office and the company secretary in place. The secretary is a statutory officer, not an optional extra.
- Bank accountOpen the bank or EMI account. Maltese banks are slow and selective; most international groups pair the company with an EMI and treat a local bank as a later step.
What we need from you
- Certified passport copies for every shareholder, director, secretary and beneficial owner
- Recent proof of address for each of them
- Bank or professional reference, where one is asked for
- A description of the business, its customers and its markets
- Source-of-funds evidence for the share capital
- Two or three preferred company names, in order
- Parent-company documents where a corporate shareholder is used
- Powers of attorney where we sign on your behalf
What you end up with
- Certificate of registration
- Memorandum and articles of association
- Share certificates and the statutory registers
- Income tax numbers for the company and for the shareholders
- VAT number where registered
- Registered office and company secretary
- A corporate pack banks and counterparties will accept
Every year after that
- An annual return to the Malta Business Registry
- Financial statements under IFRS or GAPSME, audited every year without exception
- A corporate income tax return
- The shareholder refund claim — a separate filing, and the reason the structure works at all
- VAT returns and recapitulative statements where registered
- Keeping the beneficial-ownership register current
Common questions
Is the effective rate really 5%?
The company pays 35%, and the shareholder then claims a refund of most of it, which commonly brings the combined effective rate to around 5%. It is a two-step system: if the second step is not filed properly, you have simply paid 35%.
Has the global minimum tax ended this?
Not for ordinary businesses. Malta has deferred the main Pillar Two rules, and the refund system continues for groups below the large-group revenue threshold. Groups above it need separate advice, because the arithmetic there is genuinely different.
How long does the whole thing take?
Registration is a matter of days once the documents and the capital are in place, and the tax and VAT registrations follow. Banking is the variable, and in Malta it is usually the longest part by some distance.
Do I need a Maltese director?
Not as a matter of company law. But where the company is managed decides where it is tax resident, and a Maltese company run entirely from somewhere else is a weaker structure than it looks on paper.
Is the audit really every year?
Yes. Every Maltese company files audited financial statements, dormant ones included. It is a real recurring cost and belongs in the budget from day one.
Who can see the owners?
The beneficial owners are filed with the registry. Access is restricted rather than fully public, but the information exists, and it reaches authorities and, in practice, banks.
Set up your company in Malta
Tell us about your business and we will confirm whether Malta is the right fit — and handle the full incorporation.
- A reply within one working day
- The first consultation is 30 minutes
- Confidential, no obligation