Malta - British Expat Forum

http://www.britishexpat.com/expatforum/malta/viewtopic.php?t=8550

and in particular from the above thread

Employment/Self-employment

EU nationals and their family members can:
o accept offers of work and seek employment in Malta;
o work (whether as an employee or in self-employment);
o set up a business.
When Malta joined the European Union, it decided, in accordance with the Accession Treaty, to retain its work permit system for the first seven years after the 1 May 2004. An EU national, therefore, requires an employment licence to work in Malta (such licence is not required in the case of self employment); this licence will, however, be granted automatically. As matters concerning employment are the responsibility of the Employment and Training Corporation, enquiries concerning employment should, therefore, be directed
to:
The Chief Executive Officer
Employment and Training Corporation
Head Office,
Hal Far
P.O. Box 20
Birzebbuga
e-mail address: etc@gov.mt
In the case of Bulgarian or Romanian nationals, not all such nationals enjoy an automatic right to work in Malta, in view that Malta decided to apply transitional arrangements in respect of workers from these States. Bulgarian and Romanianworkers wishing to work in Malta are required to apply for an employment licence. Their application would have to be considered on its own merits and in the light of labour market requirements unless certain conditions of residence have been satisfied. Enquiries in this respect should also be
made with the Employment and Training Corporation (etc@gov.mt).

GM,

If I am running a UK registereed company (ie: the website I have), do you know, or does anyone know if I am allowed to also work in Malta/Gozo as self employed in another field? Presumably I would have to declare myself as self employed to Maltese authorities in order to practice in Malta?
And, do you, or does anyone know if I have to have a Malta residents card and or anything else (ie: register with HMRC equivalent in Malta) in order to trade as self employed here?

Or do expats actually just register as self employed in the UK and trade here?

Rach

internet work is a grey area, but at its root is the following question - where are you providing the services ?

An accountant might advise you to only provide services to people outside of Malta if you don't want to register in Malta, but I'm only guessing, and its not an area I've been involved in. If nobody else can help, maybe contact the accountant listed on the "recommended suppliers" forum ?

Just to make sure - do all regulations that apply to EU citizens apply to EEA citizens as well? A citizen of an EFTA country would then have the same rights as an EU citizen?

it would appear so, assuming wikipedia is correct

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_for_workers


the citizens of the member states of the European Economic Area have the same right of freedom of movement inside the EEA. Also, the European Union and Switzerland have concluded a bilateral agreement with the same meaning. Both EEA member states and Switzerland are treated as "old member states" in regard to the Treaty of Accession of the new EU members.

Norway appears in the table

RachyinGozo wrote:GM, If I am running a UK registereed company (ie: the website I have), do you know, or does anyone know if I am allowed to also work in Malta/Gozo as self employed in another field? Presumably I would have to declare myself as self employed to Maltese authorities in order to practice in Malta? And, do you, or does anyone know if I have to have a Malta residents card and or anything else (ie: register with HMRC equivalent in Malta) in order to trade as self employed here? Or do expats actually just register as self employed in the UK and trade here? Rach

If you are saying that you would like to have a business in the UK and a separate business in Malta then yes this is possible. You would pay your Taxes, NI in the UK for the UK business and depending on your earnings in Malta then you would also pay seperate Taxes, NI in Malta.
I would speak to your UK accountant and also get advise from a Maltese accountant as there are Tax benefits you can obtain from having both business. Most accountants in Malta will offer you a free consultation and free advise.
Hope this helps a bit.

Hi Damik, and welcome to the forum

gozomark wrote:http://www.britishexpat.com/expatforum/malta/viewtopic.php?t=8550 and in particular from the above thread Employment/Self-employment EU nationals and their family members can: o accept offers of work and seek employment in Malta; o work (whether as an employee or in self-employment); o set up a business. When Malta joined the European Union, it decided, in accordance with the Accession Treaty, to retain its work permit system for the first seven years after the 1 May 2004. An EU national, therefore, requires an employment licence to work in Malta (such licence is not required in the case of self employment); this licence will, however, be granted automatically. As matters concerning employment are the responsibility of the Employment and Training Corporation, enquiries concerning employment should, therefore, be directed to: The Chief Executive Officer Employment and Training Corporation Head Office, Hal Far P.O. Box 20 Birzebbuga e-mail address: etc@gov.mt In the case of Bulgarian or Romanian nationals, not all such nationals enjoy an automatic right to work in Malta, in view that Malta decided to apply transitional arrangements in respect of workers from these States. Bulgarian and Romanianworkers wishing to work in Malta are required to apply for an employment licence. Their application would have to be considered on its own merits and in the light of labour market requirements unless certain conditions of residence have been satisfied. Enquiries in this respect should also be made with the Employment and Training Corporation (etc@gov.mt).

So, now the 7 years is up, does the work permit/license thing still apply? Some people in gozo last week told me we will still need a work permit?? confused!!!!

As an EU citizen you no longer need a work permit, but you still need to register with ETC, so not sure how much real difference there is - you still need to get residence permit, which will be an employment one if you are employed

Ah I see. Thanks very much Mark x

Hi,

I'm an Ordinary EU resident in Malta and I'm want do some trading in Overstocks between the US and the EU but always outside of Malta and I want to use a 0% tax Offshore Company in Panama with bank account outside of Malta
for which I will be the 100% owner and only Director.

I will be making calls, sending emails and faxes from Malta to run this Company and receiving forwarded mail at my home address

Will this Company has to pay taxes in Malta?

Thanks a lot

In the end its up to the taxman to decide whether you are liable to tax, and changing one thing could make the difference - personally I would either ask an accountant or call up the tax office for a ruling. An accountant would be able to tell you the best way of setting things up from your point of view, so would be my preferred route. An accountant would also tell you whether its better to do this as an individual or as a company.

I believe that overseas capital gains can be brought into Malta tax free in the same way capital can be.

Thanks Gozomark for your fast reply. You're right to advise this route but Maltese Acountants tend to be very expensive, overcharging foreign residents. I sometimes feel like a walking wallet. But Paris and Berlin are the same.

The accountant I, and several others on the forum use, is reasonable on charges - about half what I paid in London 15 years ago.

He's listed on the recommended suppliers boards, which cost £25 to join, with 50% going to Gozo SPCA