Cassola makes tax transparency pledge: MPs, candidates must bare all

The independent candidate Arnold Cassola has requested the Commissioner for Revenue to make available his tax returns going back as much as 30 years, if requested.

The former Alternattiva Demokratika chairman, who is contesting on the 10th and 11th districts, said in a press conference outside the Inland Revenue Department that he was formally consenting in a letter to the taxman to release his tax returns should they be requested.

“The past legislature has been characterised by a considerable number of politicians and PEPs who avoided or evaded taxes or had a dubious relationship with their duties as responsible citizens,” Cassola said.

“We all remember how Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri set up secret companies in Panama, with the specific aim of hiding their undeclared wealth and of receiving kickbacks from Yorgen Fenech’s 17Black and Chen Ching’s Macbridge.

“We then had Labour MP Ian Castaldi Paris who amassed over one million euros in unexplained wealth, which had not been declared to the taxman.

“PN leader Bernard Grech, in 2006, was asked to settle a hefty bill for unpaid taxes between 1990 and 1996, then again in 2012 for the years 1999-2011 and again he was asked to settle VAT assessments for 2014 to 2019.

“PN MP David Thake was also outed for not having paid €270,000 due to the VAT office. He attributed this to cash flow problems.”

Tax returns of Maltese ministers and MPs: politics the preserve of the professional class

Cassola said much more serious were the stories concerning Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar and Prime Minister Robert Abela.

“The first one accepted payments from the businessman, whom she knew to be a briber of politicians, and did not declare these earnings to the taxman. The Prime Minister, instead, has millions in unexplained wealth, and he persists in not revealing his tax returns. The situation in his case is seriously complicated by the fact that we now know he dealt in business with callous criminals, including Christian Borg and, maybe, even others.”

Cassola said that Malta needs to have honest politicians who are open to public scrutiny.

“Already as a candidate I am authorising the Commissioner of Revenue to make accessible to journalists my tax returns, if requested. I now expect Prime Minister Abela and other politicians to follow suit.

“Unexplained wealth can no longer be the hallmark of Maltese parliamentarians,” Cassola said.

Tax returns of all MPs are made available by the Speaker of the House upon request by registered newspaper editors, as laid down in Maltese law.