Category: Articles

The issues mainly relate with the proof of the country of origin and the documentation being requested

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has held a meeting with the Commissioner for Economic, Financial and Trade Relations with the United Kingdom, Dr. Mario Vella and Customs officials over a number of issues being encountered as a result of BREXIT.

The issues mainly relate with the proof of the country of origin and the documentation being requested. Members across the board have reached out to the SME Chamber, on the lengthy bureaucratic process to declare items imported from the UK and the costs involved in the process.

Members also mentioned that, the process involves dealing with a number of different entities that in most instances request different forms and documentation which is not always possible to source from the manufacturer / exporter in the UK. This is leading to a lengthier process which in instances is not possible given the short shelf life with the case of food items, which normally can only be sourced from the UK.

Members have lambasted on the fact that this is leading towards higher costs and in most instances a clear discrimination with goods originating in the EU but imported from the UK, since in failure to prove the country of origin normally leads towards businesses having to pay both VAT and Duty on goods originating from the EU.  Additionally, the process normally involves the engagement of additional customs officials which leads to bigger costs.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs, will continue to engage in discussions with different entities, including customs and the port health directorate in order to ensure that issues encountered, leading to lengthier processes are reduced as much as possible.

Members, encountering issues, are encouraged to get in touch with the Malta Chamber of SMEs via email on or phone on 21232881.

We’ve put together together a guide with Malta’s Black Friday offers

November has become a month for celebration thanks to Black Friday, for businesses and consumers alike.

Black Friday was this year launched with the support of Hon Silvio Schembri, Minister for the Economy and Industry. The Ministry and the Chamber of SMEs came together to highlight the opportunities at local level, where the offers available from all the different sectors, the service, the shopping experience and the convenience of proximity makes shopping local very attractive.

This was the first step of the Chamber of SMEs’ Black Friday campaign to boost shopping local. Once again a guide was put together in order to give consumers the chance to plan ahead and make the most out of this special period of sales.

The guide is accessible here.

The campaign continues with a number of TV appearances and media coverage in relation to the campaign.

This conference was organised by funds from the EEA Grants and Norway Grants

The Malta Chamber of SMEs organised a conference entitled “The new world of Work and Employment – Fostering improved working relations for micro and Small businesses”.

The conference had close to 100 registrants for this conference and commenced by a brief introduction from the Malta Chamber of SMEs CEO Ms Abigail Agius Mamo.

this was followed by a presentation from Fenech and Fenech Advocates, the oldest law firm in Malta. The presentation was conducted by Dr. Paul Gonzi partner at Fenech & Fenech Advocates specialising in Employment Law, Data Protection and TMT Law, Dr. Rebecca Diacono Senior Associate working within the Tax & Immigration Law Department of Fenech & Fenech Advocates, Dr. Mattea Pullicino, Associate at Fenech & Fenech Advocates working with the firm’s International Practice department & Dr. Thomas Bugeja, Senior Associate within the International Practice department at Fenech & Fenech Advocates.

After a short coffee break, the conference resumed by a panel discussion with the main speakers being Mr. Felix Borg, Head of Division at JobsPlus, Mr. Anton Sevasta, CEO at Identity Malta, Mr. Marcel Cassar, CEO APS Bank PLC, Dr. Paul Gonzi – Partner at Fenech and Fenech and Moderated by Mr. Lawrence Zammit – MISCO Consulting.

A conference funded by the EEA Grants and Norway Grants

The Malta Chamber of SMEs organised a conference entitled “The new world of Work and Employment – Fostering improved working relations for micro and Small businesses” aimed at giving participant a legal overview of how employers should position themselves in the light of how the place of work has changed since the start of Covid.

The conference which had an attendance of close to 100 participants, tackled issues related to employee shortages and sourcing of TCNs.

This conference was organised by funds from the EEA Grants and Norway Grants.

The Customs Department announced that as of Monday, 8 th November 2021, T2L documentation processing will no longer be provided by the Customer Services Unit in Valletta.

Instead, the service will be available from the Manifest Monitoring Office stationed at Luqa Airfreight Section, at the Old Luqa Airport Terminal.

The Customs Department said that this is another trade facilitation measure and is part of the Department’s ongoing efforts to relocate most of its services from less problematic parking locations.

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As part of our efforts to promote business matchmaking for Israeli companies, The Federation of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce (FICC) announced several business offers from companies and its members.

All companies within the list of business offers are looking for new business partners, distributors, representation or suppliers.

Companies interested to get more information related to these business offers and full list of business offers, please contact Fabian Demicoli by email on

List of busniess offers below:

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has noted a number of positive initiatives that will aim at pushing both businesses and workers forward. Addressing Malta’s human resources crises the Budget will result in rewards for those choosing to work more through in-work benefits and tax incentives.

At the same time the Budget acknowledges the support businesses require following the pandemic in making investments. The incentives welcome include allowing the transferability of capital allowances, tax benefits on reinvested profits, financing schemes and various other schemes that encourage sustainability and moving towards clean energy amongst others.

The SME Chamber is particularly pleased to see a number of its own proposal being included in this years Budget, namely:

The Budget further explains that work to get Malta out of the Greylisting status is well underway and is expected to yield the desired results. It however falls short in addressing how this Greylisting is affecting the backbone of our economy, Maltese SMEs. During Budget discussions the Malta Chamber of SMEs has emphasised on the importance to assess the additional costs and burdens that are being lumped on SMEs by the various financial and regulatory institutions without a risk-based or proportionality driven approach. Businesses are being punished on a daily basis and it is not acceptable that the greylisting strategy comes at the pure expense of Maltese SMEs.

 

View a full summary of the Budget highlights for businesses

COLA – €1.75 per week

TAX ARREARS CRACKDOWN – from June 2022 with pledge to end regular amnesties on penalties and interest on unpaid tax increased to 7.2%

PROPERTY – No capital gains tax or stamp duty on the purchase of properties that are more than 20 years old and have been vacant for seven years or more

– First-time buyers of such properties will also receive a grant of €15,000

– That grant doubles to €30,000 for properties bought in Gozo

– VAT up to €54,000 on the first €300,000 spent on renovation works

 

RENT SUBSIDIES – Extended to cover a wider spread of business sectors

TRANSPORT

– Free public transport for all from October 1 2022

-Maximum grants on electric vehicles increased from €8,000 to €11,000 and €1,000 scrappage scheme

-5 year exemption on license fees for electric vehicles has been extended

-Electric vehicles will remain exempt from registration tax

-1,200 charging points for electric vehicles to be installed in next three years

-A grant of up to €900 for minibuses, coaches and trucks that install photovoltaic panels

-VAT refunds for bicycles and electric bikes continue

FAMILY

-Free childcare services will be extended to evenings and weekends for people working shifts

-Threshold for in-work benefits paid to parents who have children under the age of 23 raised for couples who both work to €50,000, up from the previous €35,000

-For couples where only one of the parents is employed, the threshold is raised from €26,000 to €35,000, while the threshold for single parents is raised from €23,000 to €35,000 per annum

PART-TIME TAX RATE – reduced from 15% to 10%

EXEMPTION ON PENSION INCOME – The maximum amount of exempt pension income will be increased to €14,318.

MORE MONEY IN PEOPLE’S POCKETS

-COLA increase to pensioners, people on social benefits and students

-Tax refunds increased to. between €60 and €140

-Increase in pensions

FAMILY BUSINESSES – Extending 1.5% stamp duty

START-UP VISA– to attract start-ups to Malta

EMPLOYMENT – Incentive to attract workers to Jobs with unattractive hours – € 150 for those whose wage does not exceed €20,000 a year

SUSTAINABILITY 

-Schemes for businesses to subsidise the cost of changing existing petrol or diesel engines to electric

-Scheme to encourages businesses to install PV panels on their vehicles.

BUSINESS INVESTMENT 

-Able to take benefits from Capital Allowances on Investments carried out in enterprises hit by the pandemic and use them in favour of tax on income on companies that remained sustainable

-Malta Enterprise will start a scheme where a % of the profits that is retained within a business and is invested in the same or another business would receive a tax benefit as long as the investment is completed within 2 years from 2022

-Seed Fund to support researchers and entrepreneurs in developing innovative and sustainable ideas

-MDB’s SME Tailored Facility extended to include green and ecological projects up to a max of €5M

-Sale incentive for enterprises that would have invested in green project to have surplus of Carbon Credits

Ignores however the negative effects of the Greylisting on SMEs

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has noted a number of positive initiatives that will aim at pushing both businesses and workers forward. Addressing Malta’s human resources crises the Budget will result in rewards for those choosing to work more through in-work benefits and tax incentives.

At the same time the Budget acknowledges the support businesses require following the pandemic in making investments. The incentives welcome include allowing the transferability of capital allowances, tax benefits on reinvested profits, financing schemes and various other schemes that encourage sustainability and moving towards clean energy amongst others.

Incentives in favour of green transport, electrification of vehicles and sustainability of buildings show also a clear commitment aimed at making Malta a cleaner and more attractive country for locals and tourists alike. Most of these incentives come out of discussions directly held with the Malta Chamber of SMEs in support of the many sectors interested in moving towards carbon neutrality.

The SME Chamber is particularly pleased to see its own proposal being included in the Budget, aimed at alleviating the heavy burden of the international transport costs by subsidising the rents on storage facilities. The Malta Chamber of SMEs believes that it is not easy to find a solution for this complicated issue however Malta’s particular circumstances must be taken into consideration and businesses supported accordingly. Other support structures will be necessary to further alleviate this problem, but this is surely a very important first step.

The Budget further explains that work to get Malta out of the Greylisting status is well underway and is expected to yield the desired results. It however falls short in addressing how this Greylisting is affecting the backbone of our economy, Maltese SMEs. During Budget discussions the Malta Chamber of SMEs has emphasised on the importance to assess the additional costs and burdens that are being lumped on SMEs by the various financial and regulatory institutions without a risk-based or proportionality driven approach. Businesses are being punished on a daily basis and it is not acceptable that the greylisting strategy comes at the pure expense of Maltese SMEs.