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Founders running a two tier trading and holding structure, Malta

Malta's Refundable Imputation system lets non resident shareholders claim a 6/7 refund on the 35% CIT, taking the effective rate to 5%. Requires a holding plus trading structure and onshore substance to satisfy MFSA and ATAD.

Refundable Imputation5% effectiveMFSA
Start setup {placement} 4 min · no card required
Corp tax
35%
Fastest setup
2 weeks
Tax treaties
70
Region
Europe

What you'll need

  • No resident director required
  • Local registered office required
  • Economic-substance test applies
  • Minimum capital: EUR 1,165
  • Administrative language: English
  • Legal system: Civil law

Tax and treaty profile

  • Corporate tax 35%
  • Effective rate ~5%
  • Tax treaties 70
  • VAT rate 18%
  • Withholding on dividends 0%
Key treaty partners
UKGermanyItalyUAESingaporeChina

Banking and payments

  • Banking takes 2 to 4 weeks with KYC
  • Stripe supported
  • Wise supported
  • Crypto banking available
  • EMI license framework available

Considerations

If any beneficial owner is a US person

The 6/7 refund creates PFIC and GILTI exposure for US shareholders, and the system is under continuous EU scrutiny. If your cap table includes US persons:

6/7 refundPFIC + GILTIEU scrutiny