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Malta to attract foreign CEOs with 15% tax on salary contracts

Offshore companies lured with 15% tax rate for CEOs earning up to €5 million.

Malta is working to attract the highest-paid executives in the world with a 15% fixed tax rate for chief executives who earn not less than €75,000 in a year, or up to €5 million over the course of their employment in Malta.

Additionally, there will be a zero-rate tax on any additional income above the taxable €5 million received over the duration of their contracts.

The ‘highly qualified persons rules’ were published this week in yet another new move by the government to attract high-profile industries, hedge funds and financial services practitioners, seeking cheaper tax bases.

The eligible offices for the 15% tax rate will be foreign-domiciled chief executives, investment traders and analysts, actuarial professionals, and marketing and investor relations heads.

But the law includes a vague ‘safety clause’ that allows the government to withdraw the tax rate if the beneficiary’s stay in Malta is “not in the public interest” – which apart from public safety and national security also includes ‘morals’.

It will be the minister responsible for justice – in this case, Carm Mifsud Bonnici – to determine whether a beneficiary’s stay in Malta is not in the public interest.

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