- Taxable persons not established in Malta shall be relieved of the obligation to register for VAT in Malta provided that they notify the Commissioner that any VAT due is declared and paid under any of the e-commerce special schemes.
- Tax on importation is now payable directly to the Commissioner instead of the Comptroller of Customs.
- No corrections to VAT returns are allowed pursuant to the issuing of a provisional assessment in terms of article 32 of the Act until such time that the final assessment has been issued or where the Commissioner cancels the relative provisional assessment. Furthermore, corrections required to be done after the issuing of a final assessment are only allowed if approved by the Commissioner.
- Parties to an appeal or a reference to the Administrative Review Tribunal may lodge an appeal with the Court of Appeal within thirty days from the date of service of the decision being appealed or by not later than 183 days from the date of the decision or on 30th June 2024, whichever date is later.
- Every taxable person established in Malta is required to keep full and proper records of all transactions carried out in the course or furtherance of his economic activity.
- Article 53 has been extensively revised to extend inspections and requests for information, particularly to access electronic data and electronic invoices for the purpose of ensuring the correct application of cross-border transactions that are perceived as susceptible to VAT fraud. For the purpose of providing information any person may be required to attend the office of the Commissioner, without prejudice to the provisions relating to the duty of professional secrecy.
- The Commissioner is obliged to furnish information obtained by him to the competent authority designated under the Eco-Contribution Act.
- The Commissioner is responsible for ascertaining, collecting and protecting tax chargeable on taxable imports in accordance with any other law.
- Article 74 introduces a general anti-abuse provision on the basis of which artificial or fictitious schemes that are essentially aimed to obtain an advantage are to be disregarded in such a manner as to redefine the scheme and re-establishing the situation that would have prevailed in the absence of such a scheme. In addition, any input VAT claim arising as a result of VAT fraud in a chain of supply shall be cancelled irrespective as to whether the person making the claim knew or should have known or even participated actively in that fraud.
- The Commissioner may prescribe any other matter for securing the payment of the tax, including enforcement provisions and applicable fines and administrative penalties.
- Criminal offences have been extended to include the failure to provide information or to produce and provide access to records and the failure to pay any tax or administrative penalty under the VAT Act.
Brandon Gatt
Partner
