The Government of Malta has put in place various financial incentives to make it more attractive for women to return to work and employment. A woman that returns to employment in Malta could qualify for a tax break of a maximum of €2,000 or an entitlement to a one-year tax exemption subject to satisfying certain conditions.
The various Malta employment tax incentives apply to:
- Women that return to employment in Malta on or after the 1st January 2008 following an absence of five years or more from the labour market in Malta, who had been employed in Malta prior to the five year break for at least 24 consecutive months.
- Women who have a child/children who is/are under the age of sixteen years old and who return to work and thus employment in Malta on or after the 1st January 2008 after having been absent from any form of employment in Malta for at least five years prior to the start date of the new employment.
- Women who have had a child or children that were born on or after the 1st of January 2007 and continue in employment in Malta or return to employment in Malta on or after the 1st of January 2007.
In certain scenarios, the tax credit is available for only one fiscal tax year and in some scenarios, the tax credit can be carried forward and offset over several tax years. Where a woman qualifies for a tax credit in respect of more than one child, she may choose to use the tax credit over several consecutive employment years.
In order to also encourage women over the age of forty years to return back to employment after a period of employment absence, the Government of Malta offers a tax credit via the Income Tax Act that grants a tax credit that can be utilised over a number of years subject to satisfying certain conditions. These include:
- That the woman returning to employment in Malta is over the age of forty years old.
- The woman returning to employment in Malta has been absent from employment for at least 5 years.
- That she earns employment income that does not exceed €9.200 per annum (Directors Fees Excluded).
- The married woman opts to choose the married rates tax computation method (joint computation) and not single persons or parent tax rates.