15% flat rate on residential property rent tax imminent

The Labour government is drafting a bill aimed at reducing the 35% tax rate currently paid on the letting of residential properties to 15%.

The government will also enforce its monitoring of tax evasion and will increase penalties on tax evasion, Louis Grech said.

The deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech said this formed part of government's work to incentivize the economy.

The announcement was greatly welcomed by those who attended this morning's public consultation meeting at Auberge de Castille. Parliamentary secretary for EU funds Ian Borg is in attendance.

"The bill will be presented in a few months, but it's useless alleviating tax burden if there isn't better enforcement of law," Grech said.

Grech, who is also politically responsible of the implementation of the electoral programme, announced that in the coming months the government will be implementing its pledge for an 'open government' by putting online draft bills for the general public's feedback.

"The plan is to have the online platform up and running hopefully by December and definitely before March 2014," he said.

He also announced that the government will be allocating €2 million for the Youth Guarantee, with 350 youths, aged between 18 and 24, expected to be the first to benefit from this programme.

The consultation meeting also delved into Malta's EU presidency 2017 where is expected that 1,500 meetings will be held, 300 activities will take place and 150 committees will be present.

"The EU presidency is a huge opportunity for Malta to show and prove that we are an effective country. It is also an opportunity to increase employment amongst youths," Grech said.

Grech and Borg also announced that government was in the process of relaunching the JEREMIE fund, a lending facility for business which proved to be extremely successful amongst local SMEs. It is estimated that the fund had a local take-up of 500 businesses.

The government has now applied for the EU fund and the tendering process and implementation of the funds is expected to take place by the end of the month.

Ian Borg also announced the government had committed €3.8 million from the European Social Fund as investment in workers' training, with 1,400 workers expected to benefit from this training investment. Sectors include maritime, sports and health.

He said that €700,000 will go to support sports instructors and coaches.