Malta's fiscal outlook more pragmatic than EU's - Scicluna

Taxation can be used as a competitive instrument when attracting investment, like wages and allowances, and Malta should not be labelled a tax haven for doing exactly that, finance minister Edward Scicluna said on Friday. 

Scicluna, who was addressing the BusinessEurope Tax Policy Group, gave a short presentation on the priorities and objectives in the area of tax policy for the Maltese presidency of the EU Council. 

He acknowledged that Malta's priorities might not always be the same as those of the European Union, mainly because Malta tended to be more pragmatic in its approach to fiscal reform, not missing the woods for the tree. 

"Our growth is sustainable, investment is very strong, unemployment is the second lowest in the EU and we are not afraid to make changes," Scicluna said. "We make Malta easy for businesses to do business here." He said Malta, for example, would shortly be amending its igaming legislation to suit the developments in the industry and to remain relevant and a leader in the field. 

The Maltese presidency's priorities, he said, will pay particular attention to the capital markets union, where much more was expected of the European Commission. 

"Banks are de-risking too much, because of new regulations, and are hesitant to reverse their course," he said. "In Malta, an Iranian student attending the University of Malta cannot open a bank account because of too many restrictions."

This had to change, Scicluna said. 

"People are not satisfied with what we did in the past eight years, and this dissatisfaction is expressing itself in political votes. I hope we are honest and can acknowledge what we did wrong," he said.