Malta · Tax regime
Resident Non-Domiciled Remittance Basis of Taxation
This is ordinary Maltese law, not a special programme. It is open to anyone resident but not domiciled in Malta. Since 2018, a EUR 5,000 minimum tax has applied where foreign income reaches EUR 35,000 in the year.
The most underrated regime in the Mediterranean, precisely because it is not marketed. Foreign capital gains are outside Maltese tax entirely, even if remitted. That is more generous than the UK's former non-dom rules ever were, and it costs a EUR 5,000 floor rather than a six-figure lump sum. For a family living off realised gains rather than yield, Malta can beat Italy's EUR 300,000 and Greece's EUR 100,000 by an order of magnitude.
Qualifying routes
Minimum annual tax applies where foreign income is at or above EUR 35,000. Below that, there is no minimum.
The facts
- Minimum
- €5k
- Total landed cost
- A EUR 5,000 minimum annual tax applies where foreign income is EUR 35,000 or more. Otherwise, ordinary progressive rates apply to Maltese-source income and remitted foreign income.
- Route type
- Tax regime, not a visa
- Physical presence
- Maltese tax residence is required, ordinarily more than 183 days, or residence in fact.
- Family
- The status applies individually. For married couples, the EUR 35,000 threshold and the EUR 5,000 minimum are assessed jointly
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable. This is a tax status only.
- Citizenship
- Not applicable
- Language test
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- resident in Malta for tax purposesnot domiciled in MaltaEUR 5,000 minimum annual tax where foreign income is EUR 35,000 or moreannual return filing and record-keeping. CRS reporting applies.
- This requires real presence and a real move. It is not a paper status. It works only if you are actually Maltese tax resident.
- Domicile is sticky and depends heavily on the facts. Acquiring a Maltese domicile of choice would collapse the regime. A domicile of origin that is arguably Maltese defeats it from the start.
- The remittance discipline is unforgiving. Mixed accounts, foreign card spending in Malta and remitted-income tracing errors are where clients lose the benefit.
- The EUR 5,000 minimum applies to the couple as a whole. An individual can elect worldwide taxation instead if it produces a lower liability. It is worth modelling each year.
- Full CRS reporting applies. Malta is not opaque, and the regime depends on disclosure rather than concealment.
- Malta's own guidance on remittance is published by the Malta Tax and Customs Administration and should be read before structuring. The rules are more technical than the marketing suggests.