Malta tax residency & stay <183 days

[Hest]

I am an EU citizen. I consider moving to Malta as self-sufficient.

Ideally I will visit Malta every two months and spend ~65 days in total per year.
I can stretch it to monthly visits and spend ~95 days.

I will not spend >180 days in any other jurisdiction.

Is this sufficient to become a TAX resident of Malta?

Finally, will it matter if go for Ordinary Residency (OR) vs The Residency Program (TRP) ?

The minimum tax is €5k with OR but €15k with TRP. I'd be okay with the latter if it guarantees a tax residency status.

 

[SoNewToAllShit]

As I understand it, you need evidence that you are staying in Malta for X‌ number of days. Where do you plan to stay during the remaining days?

 

[Hest]

Yes, when you request a Certificate of Tax Residency (RCTCR02) you need to fill in the amount of days you stayed in Malta past 12⁠ months. Providing evidence should be easy through flight tickets.

For me this would be something⁤ like 80 days in Malta (two weeks every two months). The remaining year I'd spend:⁣
- 130 days in country A (they only tax me if 180+ days or registered⁢ address)
- 70 days in country B (they'd tax me if 90+ days)
- 80︀ days on various trips (business and holiday)

If Malta does not accept me as tax︁ resident, no other country would either. Lack of tax residence would mean higher WHT on︂ received dividends. I also expect banks to require this certificate more and more, so I'm︃ afraid I must have a proper tax residence.

 

[Mr Gus]

https://cfr.gov.mt/en/individuals/Pages/Tax-Residence.aspx

For most people coming from western EU countries it's not to so much about‌ wether Malta sees you as tax resident or not, but more about when your home‍ country doesn't see you as tax resident any more.

Most western countries are deliberately very⁠ vague about when you are tax resident or not. I believe only the UK has⁤ a tax residency test. If you want to be save you should check if your⁣ home country has a tax treaty with Malta, if so, make sure to get a⁢ permanent home in Malta and don't have one in your home country and spend 183︀ days or more in Malta.

A tax residency certificate is the most useless piece of︁ paper if you want it to protect you from the taxman in your home country.︂

 

[hofo]

yes I have read that many times before, you have to cut all⁣ ties with your home country to avoid being taxed, even if you live abroad.

 

[Mr Gus]

I didn't say you have to cut all ties. As long as you‍ have treaty protection you can do whatever you'd like.

Tax treaties overwrite local law, so⁠ if you have treaty protection, and you can prove it in court, the tax authorities⁤ in your home country have zero chance of winning.

 

[PhantomOf ThePits]

Cyprus NonDom is 60days:
link for example with google here https://gk-lawfirm.com/cyprus-tax-residency/
(thats if you are NOT⁢ creating substance in other countries like you are for example living quite 'nomadicly'

For Malta,︀ if you go for the 15k TRP Special program (which takes some months for them︁ to qualify you), there's no minimum requirement of days to stay on Malta(from Maltese side).︂
However, the same, dont create substance in another country and the famous 183 days rule︃ is just one of the tests.

Also, its important with the TRC (Tax Residency Certificates)︄ that some countries you want to show this TRC to, may not give too much︅ on that piece of paper from another country if they suspect you may be their︆ tax resident (places like Germany, Scandinavia and such can be really nasty in that if︇ they investigate you).

 

[Hest]

Do I need to pay the full 15k if I already paid tax‌ to other countries? Say I pay € 1k in tax abroad for renting out apartments,‍ and € 2k are withheld from dividends on US and EU stocks. Since I already⁠ paid 3k in tax abroad, does Malta claim 12k or 15k from me? (These countries⁤ have double tax agreements with Malta)

 

[PhantomOf ThePits]

For this special program you'd pay⁣ 15k to Malta no matter how much you paid abroad.

The ordinary residence (where you'd⁢ need to stay longer, you'd have a minimum of 5k EUR).

 

[pjat555]

anyone able to answer if Malta non dom / Malta tax resident sitting in Malta‌ and activly trade on foreign crypto exchange ( crypto to crypto) with no profits remitted‍ to Malta do I pay any taxes in Malta?

 

[Milei]

Your trading would likely be considered business revenue generated in Malta, similar to Cyprus, with its⁠ "badges of trade" (you can Google it to see the criteria that Cyprus uses to⁤ determine whether that income is private or business revenue). However, it's a bit of a⁣ grey area since you don't need to report foreign capital gains as non-dom in the⁢ revenue tax declaration (which is different than in Cyprus, where you have to report it).︀ So, it's unlikely for the Maltese tax authority to determine the trading turnover and frequency︁ using the CRS information from bank accounts only (don't know how it will be with︂ the new MiCA directive). To complicate things further, you could choose to stay <183days in︃ Malta, and in that case, they couldn't argue anymore that the revenue was generated in︄ Malta.

 

[Koedam]

Badges of trade related to daytrading/active trading is︃ according to ChatGPT only relevant for fiscal residents of Cyprus. ChatGPT isnt always correct, but︄ when I look into the guide for doing the tax declaration, I don't see︅ a possibility to for the non-tax resident to declare daytrading/active trading.

Maybe someone with more︆ knowledge on Cyprus law could elaborate?

 

[Milei]

"Note that if you continue to have regular commercial income, besides⁣ income from salary, you mustcomplete a Return for Self-Employed Persons (T.D.1A self- employed)." page 18⁢