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The Double Taxation Agreement between the Government of Malta and Switzerland was published as a Schedule to Legal Notice 198 of 2021 and shall be deemed to have come into force on 3rd November 2021.

The Cooperation with Other Jurisdictions on Tax Matters Regulations (SL 123.127) have been revised by LN 8 of 2023. The numerous amendments introduced by this measure include the introduction of a definition of “joint audit” and a new provision regulating joint audits; clarification of the notion of “foreseeable relevance” in Regulation 12; as well as provisions addressing automatic exchange of information reported by Platform Operators and penalties imposed on Platform Operators for failure to comply with reporting obligations.

An EPIC Journey, the theme of our 2022 Annual Review, not only denotes a particularly impressive and remarkable adventure this past year, but EPIC is also an acronym for Every Person is Connected, as we learned at the EPIC Immigration Museum at our Fall International Conference in Ireland. The theme accurately reflects the past year and the bringing together of the outstanding global community of professionals that makes up TAG Alliances.

The Cooperation with Other Jurisdictions on Tax Matters Regulations (SL 123.127) have been revised by LN 8 of 2023. The numerous amendments introduced by this measure include the introduction of a definition of “joint audit” and a new provision regulating joint audits; clarification of the notion of “foreseeable relevance” in Regulation 12; as well as provisions addressing automatic exchange of information reported by Platform Operators and penalties imposed on Platform Operators for failure to comply with reporting obligations.

Anguilla, Bahamas and Turks and Caicos have been added to the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, on the basis of their failure to enforce the economic substance requirements that apply to zero tax jurisdictions. The following is the revised list of countries that have refused to engage with the EU or to address tax good governance shortcomings (situation on 4 October 2022).

Following a judgement by The Court of Justice of the European Union in Joined Cases C-37/20 | Luxembourg Business Registers and C-601/20 | Sovim, the Anti-money-laundering directive provision whereby the information on the beneficial ownership of companies incorporated within the territory of the Member States is accessible in all cases to any member of the general public was declared invalid. The ECJ opined that the interference with the rights guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights entailed by that measure is neither limited to what is strictly necessary nor proportionate to the objective pursued.

During her State of the Union Address on 14 September, EU Commission President von der Leyen confirmed that the Commission plans to proceed with a proposal for a single set of tax rules for doing business in Europe as part of a SME relief package.

The OECD has now made available new transfer pricing profiles for Egypt, Liberia, Saudia Arabia and Sri Lanka. The transfer pricing profiles set out “countries’ domestic legislation regarding key transfer pricing principles, including the arm’s length principle, transfer pricing methods, comparability analysis, intangible property, intra-group services, cost contribution agreements, transfer pricing documentation, administrative approaches to avoiding and resolving disputes, safe harbours and other implementation measures.”

The following jurisdictions remain on the Blacklist: American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu. The state of play in Annex II of the Blacklist also details steps taken by various jurisdictions to undertake reforms in order to comply with tax good governance standards. More detail on this can be found in the Code of Conduct (Business Taxation) report to the Council of the EU.

In June 2021 Malta was placed on the FATF grey list – the list of the countries under increased monitoring by the FATF. In its February 2022 plenary the FATF noted that Malta has made the following key reforms