On 8th June 2020, the Maltese Government announced the fourth wage of fiscal measures aimed at stimulating the economy after the massive slowdown caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. These are categorized in 3 sections namely i) Overhead reduction, ii) kick-starting demand for local goods and services and iii) incentivising investment.
Below is a glance at some of the main incentives under each section:
i) OVERHEAD REDUCTION
- Rental subsidy – A cash grant of up to €2,500 (one time subsidy) against rental costs for businesses falling under Annex A and B (As published by Malta Enterprise);
- Electricity subsidy – A subsidy capped at €1,500 covering electricity costs for July, August and September (Applicable to Annex A and Annex B entities);
- Fuel prices reduced by 7c per litre wef 15 Jun 2020;
- Trade licences waived for one year;
- Grant of 80% of marketing costs and participation in fairs overseas of up to €10,000;
- Refund/reduction of 33% of port charges and 10% container discharge costs incurred on import/export of goods;
- Subsidy on consultancy fees (up to €5,000) incurred to assist with business re-engineering;
ii) KICK-STARTING LOCAL DEMAND
- Reduced property transfer tax from 8% to 5% whilst stamp duty on acquisition reduced from 5% to 1.5% on the first €400,000 of the transfer value . The reduction applies to cases where promise of sale has already been entered into and provided that the deed of sale is concluded by March 2021;
- All residents over 16 years of age will receive a voucher of €100 (expiring by Sept 2020) of which 20% can be spent at retail outlets and the 80% at MTA Licensed establishments;
- In work benefit will be increased to €1,400 per child (both parents working) or €630 per child (one parent working or single parents. An additional one time benefit of €250 will apply to each family currently in receipt of an in work benefit;
- A grant (capped at €2,000) to cover deposits on weddings that had to be postponed or incurred costs to reschedule a date;
- Financial assistance to old peoples’ homes;
- Pensioners who work and students supplementing their stipend with other earned income, previously not eligible to a wage supplement will now be receiving a wage supplement to September 2020;
iii) INCENTIVISING INVESTMENTS
- Grants of a maximum of €200,000 for the construction industry which acquire cleaner (more eco friendly) machinery and equipment;
- Annex A industries operating in the tourism industry will continue to receive the wage supplement (€800 for full timers and €500 for part timers) up to September 2020. The wage supplement for Other Annex A businesses will be reduced to €600 for full timers and €375 for part timers (also up to September). Annex B businesses will also continue to receive the previous assistance until September;
- Up to 30% of tax credits received from Malta Enterprise (Micro Invest tax credits) may be converted to cash grants (capped at €2,000 for Malta based businesses and €2,500 for Gozo based businesses of female owned undertakings);
Further details and clarifications are expected in due course.