Auditor General finds substantial council payments not covered by fiscal receipts

For the third consecutive year, the National Audit Office report on local government flags instances where substantial amounts of expenditure incurred for council operations were not supported by a valid fiscal receipt, even though the respective service provider did not qualify for the exemption under the pertinent legislation. 

Moreover, in a number of cases, “procurement was only supported by an unofficial piece of paper”. In such instances, it could not be ascertained that the respective expenditure was actually incurred for the running of a council. 

At times, even the invoice submitted by the supplier lacked necessary details, such as details of the supplier, and identification of the client. 

The NAO insists that an invoice, as well as a fiscal receipt, be obtained for all the expenditure incurred by a council. 

In cases where the supplier lacks adherence to VAT regulations, the council is to “discontinue procuring from such defaulter until the situation is rectified”. 

But unlike in previous years the report does not include a breakdown of each council’s transactions without a fiscal receipt.

Last year the NAO flagged payments totalling nearly €340,000 paid to Malta’s 68 local councils which were not accompanied by a proper fiscal receipt. This represented a sharp decrease from the €1.6 million in payments not covered by a fiscal receipt flagged by the auditor in the previous year.