Ministry for Finance Edward Scicluna presented Malta's Budget for 2017 on the 17th October 2016. Below are the round-ups of the budget points from various FinanceMalta members. Download the full Budget report here (Maltese language)

Salient points from the Malta Budget 2017

Taxation

  • Income tax on government pensions and private pensions up to €13,000 will be removed next year
  • A €1.75 wage increase as part of the cost of living adjustment
  • Low-income people will actually be getting a raise of €4 per week through improvements to the in-work benefit and the supplementary allowance
  • Income tax on dividends paid to investors on the Malta Stock Exchange will be waived, and the government will introduce savings bonds a special rate targeted at pensioners
  • The price of cigarettes will go up by some 30 cents - the same as last year
  • New duties on non-alcoholic drinks (excluding water) and building materials including steel rods, glass and tile
  • Tax credits for employers who set up occupational pension schemes

Property

  • €5,000 tax concession for first-time property buyers will stay in place.
  • Incentives for those who buy property which needs renovation in urban conservation areas
  • Tax on Gozo property purchases is going down to two per cent instead of five per cent
  • Low-income tenants will have their rent subsidy doubled. Rents on social housing will be reversed to what they were in 2013

Transport

  • Free tallinja bus card for a year for everyone turning 18 in 2017
  • Incentives for private companies which organise transport for their workers
  • Plans for widening of part of the Hamrun bypass and improvements to the Mosta junction near Kinds

Infrastructure

  • Private sector to invest in a new school for foreigners at the former Mtarfa Hospital
  • Plans for a new breakwater in Marsamxett, a mother-and-child hospital, and schools in Victoria, Marsascala and St Paul's Bay
  • New primary schools planned for St Paul's Bay, Marsascala and Victoria
  • Call for proposals for the design, building and operation of the Gozo tunnel will be issued next year. A contract will be awarded for a fast ferry service between Valletta and Mgarr
  • A new fibre-optic link will be laid between Malta and Marseille, France, to reduce dependence on a hub in Italy
  • A new national oil company will be set up to handle oil exploration efforts.
  • Pinto Wharf to be extended by 12 metres to cater for bigger cruise liners in Grand Harbour. Deep Water Quay will also be extended
  • A Food Manufacturing Centre will be set up at the former Dowty site in Mriehel

Social welfare

  • Increases in the allowances to people who care for their parents or infirm relatives at home and those who receive the in-work allowance.
  • €1m fund for schoolchildren with a difficult upbringing or a deprived background

Source: Times of Malta

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