Company Formation in Malta

You set up a company in Malta by registering a private limited company with the Malta Business Registry through a licensed service provider, depositing the paid-up capital and registering for tax. Malta suits licensed financial, gaming and digital businesses and EU trading companies with real management on the island, not structures run from elsewhere.

Key points

• Malta's headline corporate tax rate is 35%, but shareholders can claim refunds when dividends are paid, typically 6/7ths on trading profits, bringing the combined Malta tax to around 5%.

• Since Legal Notice 188 of 2025, companies can instead elect a 15% final tax with no refunds, binding for at least five years.

• Malta levies no withholding tax on dividends to non-residents and has a participation exemption and a patent box.

• The India–Malta DTAA caps Indian tax at 10% on dividends, interest, royalties and technical fees, and is modified by the MLI's principal purpose test.

• Founders can relocate through the Nomad Residence Permit, the Key Employee Initiative or the Global Residence Programme, each with its own tax rules.

Why do founders and groups set up a company in Malta?

Businesses go to Malta first for its regulators and second for its tax system. Malta is an English-speaking EU and eurozone member whose financial services, gaming and payments licences can be used across the EU.

Malta's full imputation system taxes profits at 35%, then refunds most of that tax to shareholders on distribution, a low effective rate inside a mainstream EU framework. That is why Malta appears alongside Cyprus in Go Global with Greenwolf, our guide to 24 jurisdictions.

The profiles we see most often are:

• Licensed businesses: payment and e-money institutions, investment firms, fund managers and online gaming operators regulated in Malta.

• International trading and digital companies that sell outside Malta and can build a small team there.

• Mobile founders who relocate and run their company locally.

• Holding companies, though for pure holding Cyprus is often simpler; compare our guide to company formation in Cyprus.

Malta is not for a business run from India or the UK: the refund system only helps a company that is genuinely Maltese in substance. It also suits groups needing simple cash flows poorly, because refunds arrive after the company has paid 35%.

What types of company can you register in Malta?

Most international founders register a private limited liability company (Ltd) under the Companies Act.

An Ltd needs one shareholder, one director, a company secretary and a registered office in Malta. There are no nationality restrictions.

How is a Malta company taxed in 2026?

A Malta company pays corporate income tax at 35%, as set out in PwC's Malta tax summary. A Malta-incorporated company is taxed on worldwide income; a foreign company managed and controlled in Malta is taxed on Maltese income and foreign income remitted there.

How does the Malta tax refund system work?

When a Malta company pays a dividend, the shareholder can claim back part of the tax paid on those profits, depending on the type of income:

• 6/7ths refund for most trading income: 35% tax less a 30% refund leaves about 5% in Malta.

• 5/7ths refund for passive interest and royalties: about 10% net.

• 2/3rds refund where the company claimed double tax relief on foreign income.

• Full refund on dividends and gains from a participating holding, where the participation exemption is not claimed instead.

Refunds go to the shareholder, generally within weeks of a valid claim once the company's tax is paid. Many groups therefore use a Malta trading company that pays the 35% and a Malta holding company that receives the dividend and refund.

What is Malta's new 15% final tax?

Under Legal Notice 188 of 2025, the Final Income Tax Without Imputation (FITWI) regulations published on 2 September 2025, a Malta company can elect a final 15% tax on its chargeable income: no refunds, no shareholder credits and no further Malta tax on dividends.

The election is available from year of assessment 2025 (basis year 2024) and binds the company for at least five consecutive years. Since 2026 the election is made through the tax return.

The 15% option is not a cut, since 5% after refunds is lower. It suits owners who want simplicity and no cash-flow gap, and groups worried that foreign authorities or the GloBE rules will look through shareholder refunds.

What other regimes apply?

• Participation exemption: dividends and gains from participating holdings are generally exempt, subject to anti-abuse rules and an EU-blacklist exclusion.

• Patent box: a deduction of up to 95% of qualifying IP income, adjusted by the OECD nexus ratio, an effective rate as low as 1.75%. See IP placement, DEMPE and the limits of tax-driven structuring.

• Notional interest deduction on risk capital, subject to caps.

What withholding taxes apply?

Malta levies no withholding tax on dividends to non-residents, and interest and royalties paid to non-residents are generally exempt.

How do the treaties with India and the UK work?

Malta has a wide treaty network of over 70 treaties.

• India–Malta: the DTAA signed on 8 April 2013 entered into force on 7 February 2014 and applies in India from 1 April 2015. It caps Indian tax at 10% on dividends, interest, royalties and fees for technical services. The MLI entered into force for Malta on 1 April 2019 and for India on 1 October 2019, and the synthesised text published by India's Income Tax Department adds the principal purpose test.

• UK–Malta: the 1994 convention, in force since 1995 and also modified by the MLI. Malta does not withhold on dividends and the UK does not withhold on dividends either.

A Malta company that exists only to access these treaties will fail the principal purpose test. Our principal purpose test guide shows what a defensible structure looks like.

What about the 15% global minimum tax?

Malta has transposed the EU Pillar Two directive but elected the six-year deferral for small member states, so it does not apply the income inclusion rule or undertaxed profits rule until the end of 2029, and has not introduced a domestic top-up tax, as KPMG Malta explains. Groups with revenue of €750 million or more can still be topped up to 15% by other countries. Read GloBE (Pillar Two) and the end of arbitrage at scale.

How do you register a company in Malta, step by step?

A Malta Ltd can be registered within about one to two weeks once due diligence is complete, and is usually fully operational with a bank account in two to four months.

1. Design the structure: one company or a trading and holding pair, directors, and whether a licence is needed.

2. Due diligence by a licensed service provider: identity, address, CVs, source of wealth, business plan.

3. Name check and constitution.

4. Deposit paid-up capital (at least 20% of issued capital).

5. Registration with the Malta Business Registry, which issues the certificate of registration, typically within a few working days.

6. Beneficial owner filing with the register kept by the MBR.

7. Tax, VAT and employer registration with the Commissioner for Tax and Customs and, for staff, Jobsplus.

8. Licence application, where needed, with the Malta Financial Services Authority or Malta Gaming Authority, often the critical path.

How much does it cost to set up and run a Malta company?

The registry fee depends on authorised share capital. Electronic registration of a company with capital up to €1,500 costs €100 under the Malta Business Registry fee structure, rising with capital. Annual return fees also scale with capital, starting at around €100.

These are indicative market ranges, not quotes. A two-company structure roughly doubles compliance fees, and licensed businesses add regulatory capital and supervisory fees.

How hard is it to open a bank account for a Malta company?

Opening a Malta bank account is difficult without a local footprint. Malta's main banks have cut their appetite for non-resident clients, and onboarding can take months.

Banks ask for a business plan, expected volumes and counterparties, source of wealth for each owner and evidence of activity in Malta. Many companies start with an EU-licensed electronic money institution and add a bank later. Our article on why banks challenge group structures before tax authorities do explains the reasoning.

What substance does a Malta company need?

A Malta company needs real management and activity in Malta for its tax position to hold abroad: Malta-resident directors who decide, board meetings in Malta, an office and staff proportionate to the income. Licensed businesses must also meet the regulator's "mind and management" rules.

The risk sits at home. If an Indian promoter runs it from India, India can treat it as Indian resident under the place of effective management (POEM) rules. Our guide to economic substance after 2022 explains why empty entities no longer survive.

For UK owners, a Malta company effectively taxed at around 5% will normally fail the UK CFC "lower level of tax" exemption, because shareholder refunds are generally taken into account in measuring the foreign tax paid. A Malta company centrally managed and controlled from the UK is also UK resident. See CFC rules: when offshore income is re-attributed to the founder.

Can you get residence in Malta through your company?

Owning a Malta company does not give you residence, but programmes run by Residency Malta Agency and Identità fit founders and staff:

• Nomad Residence Permit: for non-EU remote workers earning at least €42,000 gross a year from a foreign employer or their own foreign company; nomad income is untaxed for 12 months, then taxed at 10%. It does not cover running a Maltese company.

• Key Employee Initiative: fast-track work permits for highly skilled non-EU staff hired by a Malta company, with a salary of at least €45,000 a year.

• Global Residence Programme: for non-EU nationals with qualifying property; remitted foreign income is taxed at 15%, with a €15,000 minimum annual tax.

• Malta Permanent Residence Programme: residence by investment through government fees, a contribution and a property purchase or lease.

Separately, Malta's non-dom rules tax residents not domiciled there only on Maltese income and remitted foreign income, with a €5,000 minimum tax where foreign income is €35,000 or more. Becoming Malta resident does not end residence at home automatically; read how founder behaviour quietly shifts tax residency before planning a move.

How does an Indian resident set up a Malta company?

An Indian company invests through overseas direct investment (ODI) and an Indian resident individual through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, capped at USD 250,000 per financial year, both under the Overseas Investment Rules, 2022. We explain the rules in ODI rules for Indian companies investing abroad.

The two-company Malta structure creates a problem for individuals: a resident individual generally cannot make ODI in a foreign entity with a subsidiary he controls, or in a financial services entity. So the Malta holding company usually needs to be owned by an Indian company, not the promoter. Compare the routes in how an Indian founder can fund an overseas company: ODI vs LRS.

Malta withholds nothing on dividends, but India taxes them at the shareholder's normal rate, and the treatment of the refund and any Malta tax credit needs case-specific analysis. The 5% figure is rarely the end result for an Indian resident owner.

What are the ongoing compliance obligations in Malta?

• Annual return filed with the Malta Business Registry each year, with the fee based on authorised capital.

• Audited financial statements: every Malta company must have its accounts audited and filed.

• Corporate tax return, generally due nine months after the year end, with provisional tax during the year.

• Refund claims by shareholders after each dividend, if the refund system is used.

• Transfer pricing rules for cross-border related-party arrangements, in force since 2024.

• Beneficial ownership updates, VAT returns and payroll filings where relevant.

How does Malta compare with Cyprus and the UAE?

If you need an EU licence, Malta often wins. For a clean EU holding company, Cyprus is usually simpler, and for Gulf, African or South Asian customers the UAE generally fits better.

The Greenwolf view

Malta is a regulatory jurisdiction first. The best Malta companies exist because a licence, a team or a founder is there; the weakest exist only for the 5% figure and are managed from somewhere else.

The new 15% option shows where things are heading: refunds are under pressure from the minimum tax, CFC rules and the principal purpose test, and a simple final tax is easier to defend. So we ask: does the business need a Maltese licence or team? Who will run it on the island? Will the refund survive the tax rules where the owners live?

For an Indian group, Malta usually makes sense only for a licensed or EU-facing business with local staff, owned by the Indian company.

Setting up in Malta with Greenwolf

If you are considering a Malta trading company, a licensed EU business or a move to Malta yourself, Greenwolf Advisors can test whether Malta fits the commercial role, model the refund and 15% options against the tax rules in India or the UK, and then incorporate, bank and run the company. Speak with a Greenwolf strategist before you commit to a structure.

This article is general information, not advice for a specific case.