Malta Value added tax (VAT)
Malta Value added tax (VAT) is 18 percent, in force since 1 Jan 2004, cited to Value Added Tax Act, Cap. 406, article 19(1), consolidated text on legislation.mt. Last checked against the official source on 28 Oct 2026.
Official source: Value Added Tax Act, Cap. 406, article 19(1), consolidated text on legislation.mt · Last checked 2026-10-28 · source fingerprint
Maltese VAT under the Value Added Tax Act, Cap. 406: standard rate plus four reduced rates.
| Current value | 18 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2004-01-01 |
| Official source | Value Added Tax Act, Cap. 406, article 19(1), consolidated text on legislation.mt |
| Last verified | 2026-10-28 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
Standard 18%, the EU's second lowest. Reduced rates: 12% (securities custody and management, third-party credit management, short-term pleasure-boat hire up to five weeks in a rolling twelve months, and regulated human-body care including health studios) added by Legal Notice 231 of 2023 with effect from 2024-01-01 - note it is a NARROW financial, health and yacht rate, not a hospitality rate; 7% (licensed accommodation, certain sporting facilities); 5% (electricity, printed publications, medical accessories, minor repairs, confectionery, admission to cultural events); and 0% or exempt-with-credit (food, pharmaceuticals, international transport, intra-EU and export supplies). Primary-confirmed 2026-10-28: the 18% standard rate was read from article 19(1) of the official VAT Act Cap. 406 PDF on legislation.mt. RECONFIRMED 2026-10-28: reconfirm. Official host legislation.mt was readable today. English consolidated PDF HTTP 200 (https://legislation.mt/getpdf/6ac352947b5e681a8405fbf4). The Maltese consolidated PDF for the expression marked point in time 01/10/2026 (https://legislation.mt/getpdf/6ac3526acc8b9109cc4dca49) article 19(1) states „għandha tkun bir-rata ta’ tmintax fil-mija tal-valur taxxabbli tal-provvista.“ Marginal note: amended by Act II of 2004. effective_from kept at the live 2004-01-01. The HTML shell is a PDF viewer; the rate was read from the official PDF. Eighth Schedule reduced rates were not re-transcribed.
Get it programmatically
curl https://euroref.dev/v1/mt/vat
# $0.003 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://euroref.dev/v1/mt/vat/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://euroref.dev/provenance/mt/vatEmail me when this changes
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Other Malta series: Policy interest rate · VAT registration threshold · National minimum wage · Public holidays · Consumer price index (annual inflation, HICP) · Personal income tax brackets · Statutory social-insurance contributions · Corporate income tax · Withholding tax rates · ECB main refinancing operations rate (fixed rate) · Late-payment interest (EU Late Payment Directive) · Statutory legal interest (Civil Code art. 1139)
The same figure elsewhere: Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · all 34