tax planning opportunities through malta
DESCRIPTION
In this webinar, our Managing Partner Frederico Gouveia e Silva presents the advantages of Malta as a competitive location for the management of international operations such as trading, holding, trusts and foundations, intellectual property and shipping.TRANSCRIPT
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Título
NEWCO © All rights reserved 2014 We know how
Tax Planning Opportunities
Contents
1. Malta
2. Tax Regime
3. Opportunities
4. NEWCO
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1. Malta
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Malta
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Malta
Business in Malta
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Malta
Companies in Malta
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1. Malta Tax regime
Tax Regime
Tax regime
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Tax Regime
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Effective tax rates | active income
Tax Regime
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Effective tax rates | passive income
Tax Regime
Taxation exemption of dividends and capital gains of participating holding (PH): a) The shareholding has a 10% holding and a right to at least 10% of 2 of the
following: ü Voting rights ü Right to profits available for distribution ü Right to the assets available for distributed on liquidation; or
b) The shareholding has a value of, at least, € 1,164 M on purchase date and has been held for a continuous period of, at least, 183 days; or
c) Malta HoldCo has an option to buy the entirety of the outstanding shares of the foreign company; or
d) Malta HoldCo has powers to appoint one member of the board of directors of the subsidiary; or
e) Malta HoldCo has a right of first refusal in the case of sale, redemption or cancellation of the outstanding subsidiary’s shares; or
f) Malta HoldCo holds a shareholding for the development of its own business and not only as stock for resale purposes.
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Participation Exemption
Tax Regime
Only in the case of dividends, the non-resident participated company also has to comply with at least one of the following anti-avoidance conditions:
a) to be resident or incorporated in the EU; or b) to be subject to, at least, a 15% foreign tax; or c) more than 50% of its income does not result from passive interest or royalties If none of these 3 conditions is met, the following conditions have to be cumulatively met: a) the holding by Malta HoldCo is not a portfolio investment and the non-resident
participated company does not have more than 50% of its income derived from portfolio investment; and
b) the non-resident participated company or its passive interest and royalties have been subject to, at least, 5% foreign tax.
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Participation Exemption
Tax Regime
Malta caters for three mechanisms to eliminate double taxation applicable to income that has been taxed at source abroad:
Application of the double taxation treaties
Unilateral tax relief
Flat rate foreign tax credit (FRFTC) of 25%
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Double tax relief mechanisms
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Tax Regime
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Double tax relief mechanisms
Treaty Unilateral credit FRFTC
Company 1- Gross income 100 100 125
2- Tax @35% 35 35 43,75
3- Tax paid abroad or FRFTC 101 152 25
4- Tax in Malta (3-2) 25 20 18,753
Shareholder
5 – Refund rate 2/3 2/3 2/3
6 – Refund (5x2, 5x4 in FRFTC) 23,33 204 12,55
7- Tax burden of the structure in Malta ( (4-6) 1,67% 0% 6,25%
|1| Example with foreign withholding tax rate of 10%
|2| Example with foreign withholding tax rate of 15%
|3| The deduction may not be greater than 85% of the tax to be paid in Malta before the FRFTC deduction but after the application of other tax credits
|4| Limited to 20 because the refund may not be greater than the tax paid by the company
|5| In the case of FRFTC, the tax refund is calculated based on the tax paid by the company on the profits included in the dividends subject to distribution after the deduction of the credit related to the application of the FRFTC
Tax Regime
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Double taxation treaties
Tax Regime
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Foreign companies with effective management in Malta
Entities Taxation
Resident and domiciled Worldwide income
Resident or domiciled Income obtained in Malta or obtained abroad (excluding capital gains) and remitted to Malta
Rule
Domicile Head-office
Residence Head-office or effective management
Foreign companies (Cyprus or other) with effective management in Malta are taxed on a territorial basis
Tax Regime
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Personal income taxation
Regime Taxation
General regime for resident and domiciled individuals
Progressive tax rate up to 35%
Regime for high net worth individuals
Income obtained abroad and remitted to Malta is taxed at a flat rate of 15%
Regime to attract highly qualified persons
Employment income in the financial services or e-gaming sectors is taxed at a flat rate of 15%
Third-country nationals who qualify under the Global Residence Programme (GRP) rules
Foreign source income remitted to Malta is taxed at a flat rate of 15%
Tax Regime
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Other advantages
Malta’s tax regime offers many other advantages: • Withholding tax exemption on the payment of royalties, interest, dividends or proceeds of liquidation
• Exemption of Capital Gains tax
• Flexible and straightforward anti-avoidance rules
• Advance rulings
• Possibility to redomicile companies from and to Malta
• Tax exemption on qualified intellectual property
Tax Regime
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Other advantages
Malta’s tax regime offers many other advantages: • The share capital of the companies can be denominated in any convertible
currency
• Flexibility in the choice of the tax year
• Malta accounting standards based on IFRS
• Stamp duty exemption
• Group tax relief
• Malta has no capital tax or wealth tax
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1. Malta Opportunities
Opportunities
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Trading Operations
|1| Corporate income tax
Opportunities
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Holding
Opportunities
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Intellectual property or financing
|1| Income exempt in Malta |2| Taxed at 35% with 2/3 refunded and double tax relief
|3| Taxed at 35% with 6/7 refunded and double tax relief |4| Interest and royalties are considered active when they are a result of the company’s business activity
Opportunities
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Financial leasing of yachts and aircrafts
Opportunities
ü Shipping and Aviation
ü Short-term Yacht chartering
ü Trusts and Foundations
ü E-gaming
ü Investment funds
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Other Opportunities
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NEWCO
• Full service corporate service provider in Malta and Madeira
• 23 years of experience
• Strategic values: Know-how, customer satisfaction, integrity, service
excellence and innovation
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NEWCO
NEWCO ensures that its clients receive all the necessary support for effectively establishing their companies in Malta, namely with:
• Company incorporation and registration
• Supply of the respective registered office and related services, companies’ management and administration
• Tax compliance, legal, financial, tax and accounting assistance, consultancy and assistance in the creation of investment projects
• Services with the purpose to facilitate the setting-up of companies in Malta (offices, equipment, human resources…)
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NEWCO
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89% of clients
Consider that NEWCO has a wide knowledge of all issues related to their jurisdiction
87% of clients
Recognize that NEWCO offers leading services in its sector of activity
93% of clients
State that they are highly likely to recommending our company to their peers and partners
“Honest and Professional.” Giuseppe Luongo President YOUTHSTREAM GROUP Monaco
“I consider the understanding of customer needs and willingness to accommodate and find appropriate solutions the key differentiator of NEWCO service.”
Luís Franco Vice-President SurveyMonkey Palo Alto, EUA
http://www.newco.pro/en/library
Learn more about these and other topics about Malta in our library
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Título
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THANK YOU. Frederico Gouveia e Silva [email protected] skype frederico.silva.newco M. (+351) 967 819 308
www.newco.pro
Follow our Blog in www.newco.pro/blog
Jorge Veiga França [email protected] Skype: jvf.newco M. (+351) 965 235 692