Tax revenues increased by €503.2 million over the previous year, reaching a total of €5,098.7 million. This figure represents 86.7 per cent of the total general government revenue collected in 2022.
Direct taxes amounted to €2,285.2 million, making up 44.8 per cent of the overall tax revenue. This marked an increase of €203.2 million compared to 2021. The primary component within this category remains the Personal Income Tax, which rose by €232.8 million, while Corporate Income Tax, on the contrary, dropped by €38.3 million over the previous year.
Indirect taxes amounted to €1,822.8 million, an increase of €224.2 million when compared to 2021. This is equivalent to 35.8 per cent of the total tax revenue. Within this category, Value Added Tax stood at €1,189.5 million, marking an increase of €188.8 million when compared to 2021. Moreover, Taxes on Products totalled €513.5 million, reflecting an increase of €14.4 million over the previous year. This increase can be attributable to higher tax revenue generated from duty on documents and the consumption of cigarettes, which was partially offset by a decrease in the excise tax levied on petroleum1. Other taxes on production added up to €92.4 million, registering an increase of €15.4 million over the preceding year.
Social contributions2 paid by employees, employers, as well as self- and non-employed persons accounted for 19.4 per cent of the total tax revenue in 2022, amounting to €990.6 million. This reflects an increase of €75.8 million when compared to the preceding year (Table 1).
The overall tax burden represents the total amount of taxes and social contributions, expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2022, Malta’s total tax burden went down to 29.6 per cent of GDP, down from the 30.1 per cent of GDP reported in 2021. The data shows an average tax burden of approximately 30.6 per cent for the period between 1995 and 2022. This implies a relatively consistent tax environment during these years, with variations around this average, including values ranging from as low as 25.5 per cent and as high as 34.0 per cent. (Table 2, Chart 1).
Chart 1. Overall tax burden by year
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By the end of last year, direct taxes (which include Capital taxes) constituted 13.3 per cent of GDP, compared to the share of indirect taxes which was 10.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the share of social contributions stood at 5.8 per cent of GDP, reflecting a decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to 2021 (Table 2, Chart 2).
Chart 2. The evolution of the main tax components in Malta
as a percentage to GDP
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Income Tax receipts by ESA 2010 institutional sector
In 2022, the income tax collected by the General Government from the household sector accounted for 65.8 per cent of the total, which is equivalent to €1,440.2 million, Meanwhile, contributions from the Non-Financial and Financial corporations accounted for 24.2 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively.
In absolute terms, the increase of €196.2 million in income tax receipts over 2021 was primarily driven by higher receipts from Households (€233.5 million), as well as increases in income tax receipts from Non-Financial Corporations (€80.8 million). These increases were partially outweighed by decreases in income tax receipts from Financial Corporations (€118.8m) (Table 4).
Environmental taxes
Total environmental tax revenue in 2022 went up by €10.6 million, reaching €287.2 million. This figure represents 5.6 per cent of the total revenue collected from all taxes and social contributions, as well as 1.7 per cent of GDP. Energy taxes (which include taxes on transport fuels) increased by €7.0 million, and constituted the largest share of environment taxes, making up 50.3 per cent of this category. The primary reason behind this increase can be attributed to higher revenue resulting from the emission trading permits (+€15.0 million). This was followed by revenue generated from Transport taxes at 38.6 per cent and Pollution taxes at 11.1 per cent (Table 5).
1Further information is available in Malta’s National Tax List (Table 6).
2Refer to methodological note 4.
Additional Tables and Charts
Methodological Notes
1. All data in this news release is in line with the European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010 Manual (ISBN 978-92-79-31242-7). This system of accounts is mandatory for all EU Member States.
2. Total tax revenue is made up of taxes received by the Central Government (S.1311) (which consists of Government Ministries and Departments and the Extra Budgetary Units) and the EU Institutions (S.212). The taxes that are reported represent ‘ultimately received’ tax revenues including the ‘own’ taxes paid to the EU.
3. The tax-to-GDP ratio measures the overall tax burden as the total amount of taxes and social contributions as a percentage of GDP. GDP figures for 2019-2022 are in line with the latest GDP news release no. 158/2023 published on 4 September 2023.
4. The Social Contributions figure includes also the Imputed Social Contributions (D.612). These represent the counterpart to social benefits paid directly by employers to their employees or former employees and other eligible persons. In Malta’s case, these refer to Treasury Pensions.
5. An environmental tax is a tax whose tax base is a physical unit (or a proxy of it) of something that has a proven, specific negative impact on the environment, and which is defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). The environmental taxes feature in Taxes on Products (D.214), Other Taxes on Production (D.29) and Other Current Taxes (D.59).
6. Revenues from VAT, Income Tax and Social Security Contributions are recorded using the time-adjusted cash method. Following a study undertaken by NSO in 2008, Eurostat approved a time adjustment of t+1 for VAT and t+2 for Income Taxes and Social Security Contributions.
7. For additional information on the taxes in Malta refer to the “Taxes in Europe” database which contains, for each individual tax, information on its legal basis, assessment base, main exemptions, applicable rate(s), economic and statistical classification, as well as the revenue generated by it. The “Taxes in Europe” database is the European Commission’s online information tool covering the main taxes in force in the EU Member States (IP/07/662). The system contains information on around 650 taxes, as provided to the European Commission by the national authorities. Access is free for all users at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/tedb/splSearchForm.html
8. All data in this release should be considered as provisional and therefore subject to revision. Figures may not add up due to rounding.
9. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:
10. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.
11. A detailed news release calendar is available online.
- In 2022, total tax revenue went up by €503.2 million over the previous year and stood at €5,098.7 million. Indirect and direct taxes increased by €224.2 million and €203.2 million, respectively, while social contributions rose by €75.8 million.
- Personal Income tax increased by €232.8 million over 2021, while Corporate Income Tax registered a decrease of €38.3 million.
- The tax burden for Malta was 29.6 per cent of GDP, a decrease of 0.4 percentage point when compared to the total tax burden of 30.1 per cent recorded in 2021.
- The household sector contributed 65.8 per cent of the General Government’s income tax, totaling €1,440.2 million, while Non-Financial and Financial corporations contributed 24.2 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively.
- Malta’s total environmental taxes rose by €10.6 million in 2022 to €287.2 million, with energy taxes making up €144.6 million of this total.
