Developers welcome amendments to final tax on property transfers

The Malta Developers Association has welcomed amendments to the tax on property transfers, that will allow investors who need to sell property within five years of acquisition at a lower 5% rate.

In genuine cases, the tax payable on property transfers will be 2% instead of 5%, while in other cases individuals or companies can pay a lower rate of 5% instead of 8% as was implemented initially, allowing  investors who sell their undeveloped property within five years of buying it,  to pay the lower rate.

“This was a change the MDA worked for with the authorities concerned… While it was the same MDA that worked and insisted that the reform be made to the final tax on property transfers, the MDA continued to work so that some further fine-tuning will be done due to the need for social justice to be achieved – as in the case of couples who end their engagement and are constrained to sell their first property,” the association said.

The MDA said that a similar incentive to the lower rate of 3.5% specifically on the sale of property in Valletta be extended to the island of Gozo.

“All this work by the MDA is evidence of how much it is seeking to safeguard everyone’s interest in a holistic way and in the interest of the whole country. The MDA is convinced that, with this reform tax on the sale of property, the property market will continue to strengthen and help the country’s economy to continue to grow,” the association said.