Malta’s tax burden on the economy is sixth lowest in EU

Malta’s tax burden as a ratio of GDP is the sixth lowest in the EU, figures out today show.

The amount of taxes and social security contributions collected by the Maltese finance ministry amounted to 32.7% of GDP in 2018, according to Eurostat.

This placed Malta sixth from bottom and well below the EU average of 40.3% and the Eurozone average of 41.7%.

In contrast, the tax burden as a ratio of the economy is highest in France (48.4%), followed by Belgium (47.2%) and Denmark (45.9%).

The tax-to-GDP ratio for Malta has remained relatively constant over the past few years. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 it stood at 31.6%, 32.1% and 32.9%, respectively.

Income from taxes on production and imports amounted to 12.9% of GDP in 2018, of which 7.5% were attributed to VAT.

Taxes on income and wealth accounted for 13.4%, of which taxes on individuals amounted to 7.3%, and taxes on income or profits of companies amounted to 5.6%

The net social contributions of Malta’s tax income amounted to 6.2%.