Author: SME Chamber

Tax evasion has
unfortunately become rampant in our country. A number of individuals, including
foreigners, have somehow come to feel comfortable with evading tax or not
complying with it as stipulated by the law.

GRTU
immediately alerted the VAT Department of the situation and it transpired that
the complaints we received where indeed founded. The VAT Department took
immediate action and assigned inspectors to carry out inspections on traders
and businesses for three consecutive dates at the trade fair. The Vat
Department confirmed to us that the majority of traders were found to be in
conformity with Vat legal obligations, but a few were found to be in breach and
were therefore reported. Action on these reports is being taken by the
Department as per normal procedure.

We urge
members to inform GRTU of any tax evading practices they might be aware of.
This will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

GRTU President and CEO have this week participated in a
Business Breakfast organised by the Malta Business Weekly where the Prime
Minister, Hon Joseph Muscat, was the keynote speaker.

Dr Muscat's speech was indeed very interesting. He
confirmed that an increasing chunk of our sales is being done on the internet.
The Government has only a rough estimate of this as transactions through PayPal
only amounted to €66M in 2013. This is double what it was 4 years before in
2009. At the same time we are seeing the level of retail trade going down and
this is very probably a factor. This phenomenon cannot and shouldn't be stopped
but local shops should invest to be able to compete but support is needed to do
this.

On the issue of unfair competition with goods coming
in through various channels and evading VAT, excise duties and eco-tax the
Prime Minister said that the situation will no longer be tolerated and that a
level playing field must be ensured. Dr Muscat stressed that Sicily is part of
Europe and imports coming from Sicily cannot be treated any differently. "In
this regard, and in full respect of EU rules, Government is currently compiling
a new and updated package of market surveillance rules in order to ensure a
level playing field".

GRTU welcomed the approach Government is taking. In an
intervention GRTU CEO Abigail Psaila Mamo stated that this is an issue GRTU has
been insisting for a long time  and our
members are pleased to see that the issue is being taken seriously and concrete
action is planned. Unfair competition is hitting our members very hard and the
situation cannot be sustained any longer.

In addition to this the CEO raised the issue of
taxation privileges. She stated that while we endorse Government's efforts of
attracting new investment to Malta and agree fully that the Government should
do its utmost to make Malta as attractive as possible we need also to be choosy
of what investments it attracts. Unfortunately the positive discrimination
related to a very advantageous tax refund is being utilised by foreign owned
businesses sectors of which our market is already abundantly saturated such as
retail outlets and restaurants. This is resulting in increased unfair
competitive pressures on Maltese owned businesses that have to compete with
businesses that end up paying only 5% of the tax due while they pay 35%. 6/7 is
refunded back to these foreign owned businesses within 48 hours. This is very
unfair and is resulting in the closure of local businesses as they have no hope
of competing.

A Round Table
Discussion on VAT Issues in Businesses was held on the 20th June by the Malta
Institute of Management (MIM) in collaboration with GRTU.  Mr Hector Spiteri, Partner Busuttil &
Micallef chaired the discussion.

The main
issues which were discussed were the different VAT registrations, Legal Notice
524 of 2010, the Sixth Schedule to the VAT Act (including the Entry and Exit
Thresholds and the Acquistions Threshold), cash accounting and various other
matters of interest to Micro Businesses.

This discussion
is one of the many upcoming events and training session that will be organised
by GRTU and MIM exclusively for GRTU Members as part of the cooperation
agreement signed earlier on this year.

"Fostering SMEs growth
through digital transformation" is an initiative from the European
Commission that aims to accelerate the digital transformation of SMEs through
piloting platforms in the following six sectors: agro-food industry;
automotive; construction; fashion; tourism and transport & logistics.

These
were presented at the Inauguration Conference held in Brussels on 8th April
2014. Initiatives in five out of the six pilot sectors are now complete and
have proven to be a real success.             

At present, the European
Commission is working on a broader dissemination phase in order to help SMEs
get familiar with the initiatives and solutions that will actively contribute
to the enhancement of work in their sectors. Therefore further information on
this topic can be found at:

http://digital-value-chains.onetec.eu/SMEsglobalchains_Guidebook.pdf

Atlas Insurance PCC Ltd has
opened its doors in Gavino Gulia Square, Bormla, its eighth branch to date.
Centrally located, the new branch will be handling a full range of personal
insurance services such as motor, boat, home, travel and pet.

"With the new Bormla
branch office, Atlas has now expanded its branch network to eight – in Qormi,
Rabat, Birkirkara, St. Paul's Bay, Paola, San Gwann, SkyParks, and now Bormla,"
said Keith Tanti, Branches and Intermediaries Manager. "Clients can of course
also visit us at our Head Office in Ta' Xbiex."

Mr Tanti added that
"Following the opening of our SkyParks branch in April 2013, we chose to open
yet another branch in order to serve our clients in the south of the island. We
are also pleased to be involved in the rehabilitation process of the area."

Atlas Insurance in Bormla
will be opening Monday to Friday from 8.30 to 1.00pm and from 3.30pm to 6.15pm.
On Saturdays the office will also be open from 8.30am to 1.00pm.

 For any enquiries customers are invited to either
call 21 800 880 or e-mail  

Guidelines to help business
users save money and get the most out of cloud computing services are being
presented to the European Commission. Cloud computing allows individuals,
businesses and the public sector to store their data and carry out data
processing in remote data centres, saving on average 10-20%.

The guidelines have been
developed by a Cloud Select Industry Group as part of the Commission's European
Cloud Strategy to increase trust in these services.

This announcement is a
first step towards standardised building blocks for Service Level Agreements
(SLAs) terminology and metrics. An SLA is a part of a service contract that
defines the technical and legal aspects of the service offered. The recent
findings of the Trusted Cloud Europe survey show SLA standards are very much
required by cloud users.

These guidelines will
help professional cloud users ensure essential elements are included in plain
language in contracts they make with cloud providers. Relevant items include:

The
availability and reliability of the cloud service,

The quality of support services they will receive from
their cloud provider

Security
levels

How to better
manage the data they keep in the cloud.

European Commission
Vice-President said: "This is the first time cloud suppliers have agreed
on common guidelines for service level agreements. I think small businesses in
particular will benefit from having these guidelines at hand when searching for
cloud services."

Vice-President Viviane Reding
said: "These new guidelines will help generate trust in innovative
computing solutions and help EU citizens save money. More trust means more
revenue for companies in Europe's digital single market." She added:
"This is the same spirit as the EU data protection reform which aims at
boosting trust. A competitive digital single market needs high standards of
data protection. EU consumers and small firms want safe and fair contract
terms. These new guidelines are a step in the right direction."

As a next step, the European
Commission will test these guidelines with users, in particular SMEs. It will
also be discussed within the Expert Group on Cloud Computing Contracts set by
the Commission in October 2013. This discussion will also involve other C-SIG
activities, for example the data protection Code of Conduct for cloud computing
providers that was prepared by the C-SIG on Code of Conduct.  The draft Code of Conduct has been presented
to the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (European Data Protection Authorities).

This initiative will have deeper
impact if standardisation of SLAs is done at international level, e.g. through
international standards, such as ISO/IEC 19086. To this end, the C-SIG on SLAs
is also working with the ISO Cloud Computing Working Group, to present a
European position on SLA Standardisation. The SLA guidelines will thus feed
into ISO's effort to establish international standards on SLAs for cloud
computing.

The Ministry for the Economy,
Investment and Small Business has awarded €100,000 in seed funding to groups of
innovators and entrepreneurs that will help them move their promising ideas
forward toward commercialization and creation of high-growth businesses in
Malta.

The TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award is
the first programme in Malta to focus on early-stage technology and start-up
development. The 2014 pilot of this programme aims to help move promising ideas
forward toward commercialisation and ultimately, creation of high-growth
businesses in Malta. Award funding helps to bridge the initial gap between
lab/patent/idea and market development, and provides support to innovators and
entrepreneurs when they need it most to increase the likelihood of success.

The TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award programme received 30 applications and shortlisted twelve teams
to ‘pitch' their ideas to the award programme selection committee. Nine teams
received funding ranging from €5,000 and €18,000. Award winners will work
closely with the TAKEOFF incubator team to advance their technology
commercialization and startup business development plans.

The TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award is a joint initiative
between the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation (CEBI) at the
University of Malta and the Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Small
Business (MEIB), with support from TAKEOFF, the Business Incubator of the
University of Malta.

Start-up teams receiving TAKEOFF
Seed Fund awards are:

DiscountIF (€18,000): Start-up DiscountIF's e-commerce platform will disrupt the traditional
online retail market by combining the thrill of winning a bet with the value of
a discounts site, offering a unique buying promise.

Inbound Muse
(€18,000): Inbound Muse will produce artificial intelligence-based software that
helps businesses gain in-depth understanding and insights about their markets.

MightyBox
Games (€10,000): Digital games studio MightyBox is focused on developing games for the
music industry, producing titles closely attached to songs and musical artists.

Sanctuary
(€6,000): Sanctuary is developing a mobile, audio-visual tool designed to
provide meditative aid to terminally ill hospital patients.

eSports
Unlimited (€5,000): eSports Unlimited is a new web-based platform offering fantasy sports
leagues, betting, and results analysis services for professional video games
competitions (esports).

Proof-of-concept technology commercialization
opportunities that received funding are:

Rib Bridge
(€16,000): A University of Malta team has invented a novel ‘rib bridge' that
helps surgeons safely and effectively reconstruct chest wall after operations
to remove cancers and address traumas.

Ultrawideband
Antenna (€14,500): A University of Malta team has developed an ultra-wideband, ultra-low
cost antenna with large market opportunities in astronomy, mobile, radar,
broadcasting, aviation and earth observations.

WALNUT
(€7,500): A University of Malta team is developing brain-controlled music player
app for mobile devices.

HydroStorageSystem
(€5,000): A University of Malta team has invented a system that combines
offshore wind energy and deep sea water to produce low-cost onshore cooling for
large buildings.

TAKEOFF which is situated at Dar Ġużeppi Zahra, in the
heart of campus, is a start-up development space that helps innovators and
aspiring entrepreneurs create thriving technology and knowledge-based ventures.
By providing fledgling start-up companies with private and shared work spaces,
and most importantly, business support, advice and vital connections, the
TAKEOFF business incubator aims to lower start-ups' costs and risks and improve
their chances of success.

Non fulfilment of your obligations is a criminal offence – The packaging and packaging
waste regulations have been in place since 2006 and it is more than high time
that those producers/ importers who in any way place packaging waste on the
market complied to the legislation.

GRTU has been at the
forefront of  making sure that importers
and SME s who place packaging waste on the market comply to the said
regulations as it is not fair that a number of producers continue to fail to
meet their obligations or state that they are self complaint without in actual
fact doing anything at all.

Since 2006 a number of
initiatives were taken by the Competent Authority , MEPA to make sure that
‘free riders' become either members of 
Authorised Waste Compliance Schemes , or else actually effect self
compliance.  Despite these initiatives,
and although more could have been done, it seems that a number continue to
breach the said legislation which is in itself a criminal offence

GRTU continues to urge
producers who have faltered and have as yet 
either not joined a Scheme or effected self compliance to take the
matter seriously as those caught out of the loop will be penalised from date of
inception of the legislation, like many others have been already in the past.
There is no reason at all to stay outside the loop and in so doing making sure
that others share the burden or create unsustainability of the system. Further
more since ‘free riders' place packaging on the market and Schemes are
collecting most recyclables from  Local
Councils through grey bag collections and Bring in Sites, Schemes are actually
forking out funds for providing this service without being compensated for
collecting packaging waste emanating from these 'free riders.'

Breaching the legislation
can be very costly. Whilst being a criminal offence at law, there are financial
penalties which far outweigh the advantages of being a 'free rider'.

GRTU urges all those
producers/ importers who have as yet not complied to the legislation to meet
their obligations by either joining an Authorized Packaging Waste Scheme or
else self complying to the legislation. Of course doing so now does not release
any producer from facing penalties for past years since 2006 as stipulated by
the Competent Authority, MEPA. There were many producers who complied or paid
fees to comply to the legislation whilst to date many ‘free riders' take this
legislation with a pinch of salt and do not comply. It is high time they acted
and comply.

Green MT , is a fully owned
subsidiary of GRTU and operates an Authorized Packaging Waste Compliance Scheme
permitted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Further information
of how to comply to the legislation by becoming a producer member of the Scheme
can contact our offices on 2149 6965 during office hours.

GRTU emphasises on the need of increased knowledge and guidance for businesses – GRTU
CEO Abigail Psaila Mamo this week took part in a panel discussion that
commented on the newly proposed Breastfeeding Policy.

The Breastfeeding Policy aims to raise breast feeding levels in the interests of mothers and
their children. Malta has amongst the lowest rates of breastfeeding amongst EU
Member States especially the level of continued breastfeeding after leaving
hospital.

The policy aims at encouraging mothers to breastfeed exclusively for
six months and then to continue for two years using breast milk and appropriate
supplements. This they say would lead to healthier individuals with lower
possibilities of becoming obese and suffering from high blood pressures and
cholesterol levels. It would also result not only in immediate  savings from not buying milk but also long
term savings in our healthcare systems.

The policy aims at making mothers
realise the benefits of breastfeeding and making it easier for them to continue
breastfeeding even when they go back to work.

Ms Psaila Mamo said that GRTU agrees
with the aims of this Policy but we want to discuss how we can get there when
it comes to the private sector. GRTU's position is that we support the
reconciliation of work and family life, most of the businesses we represent are
family businesses and therefore this is inherent to us. GRTU agrees that a
successful career can exist inparallel to family obligations and we are also in
favour of the increased employment of women. GRTU recognizes that such family
friendly measures also give a return to employers because employees are
encouraged to go back to work after maternity leave and stay in work. This also
could result in increased commitment and performance of employees.

GRTU is also of the opinion that
employers are already doing a lot. For a micro enterprise complying to
maternity leave requirements is no easy feat and we therefore should try to
alleviate the burden on business as much as possible. The approach GRTU would
accept is one based on knowledge and giving the correct information, not just
to parents and the public at large but also to businesses and their employees.
GRTU would also encourage communication between the employer and his employees
as employers need to be notified in advance that the employee would need
support also in relation to breastfeeding. In addition the approach should not
be to impose but to guide employers and help them understand that with some
minor changes they can be supporting employees and we must give them practical
and cost effective options. This is an approach GRTU would fully support.

The drafted legislation also seeks to
control the marketing of breast milk substitutes by stopping companies from
advertising products as breast milk substitutes and impeding these companies
from sponsoring or advertise in certain health-related events. GRTU feels that
as far as health centres, the  hospital and health events organized by
them are concerned they have the right to limit the involvement of the private
sector as they deem fit. We do however feel that it is excessive to regulate
private and independent advertising. This we feel would have insignificant
benefits and if we start regulating advertising like this to protect people from
the influence of the media there is no telling where we will stop.

The
consultation is open till the end of August and GRTU will be consulting its
members and presenting a position paper.