Hub Guide for setting up a single-family office in Malta: the usual building blocks (family holding company, family investment company, foundation or trust, management company), how each is taxed with links to the deep Guides, the management company's own corporate tax, VAT, payroll and licensing questions, the Family Office Residency programme and the non-dom minimum tax, a setup checklist with the order of steps and documents, what a Malta structure does not do, when another country fits better, and a worked hypothetical family structure.
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Accountant-authored. Written and published by Michael Cutajar, an accountant approved on OpenAccountants. Their licence number (CPA Warrant, Malta · ACCA) is published on their profile, so you can check it against the register yourself. No second accountant has attested to this version yet. General reference material, not advice on your specific facts; don't file, pay, or take a position on it without a professional reviewing your situation.
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| Building block | Malta tax in short | Deep Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Family holding company | Taxed as a company at the article 56(6) rate. Dividends and gains from a "participating holding" are exempt if the company leaves them out of its return and, for dividends, the anti-abuse conditions are met; gains on a holding in a Malta-resident company must also pass the beneficial owner test (Cap. 123 art. 12(1)(u)). It may instead pay tax and let shareholders claim a refund (Cap. 372 art. 48). | mt-holding-company-participation-exemption |
| Family investment company | Taxed as a company at the article 56(6) rate on interest and portfolio income. Shareholders may claim the refund under Cap. 372 art. 48(4A), at a lower fraction for passive interest. For a Malta-resident individual shareholder, whether article 12(1)(c)(iii) of the Income Tax Act and the last proviso to article 48(1) of Cap. 372 bar that refund is not settled; see mt-holding-company-participation-exemption. The company may instead elect the final tax in S.L. 123.217, which has a floor and a five-year lock-in. | mt-holding-company-participation-exemption |
| Foundation | By default taxed in the same manner as a company ordinarily resident and domiciled in Malta (S.L. 123.114 reg. 3). Its administrators may irrevocably elect trust treatment (reg. 4). | mt-foundations-and-trusts |
| Trust with a resident trustee | By default income allocated to beneficiaries is taxed in their hands (Cap. 123 art. 27D(3)(e) and (8)). Where all the income arises outside Malta (or is article 12(1)(c) income) AND every beneficiary is either not ordinarily resident in Malta, not domiciled in Malta, or wholly exempt under article 12, the income is treated as derived directly by the beneficiaries (art. 27D(3)(b)). A trust may elect to be taxed as a company only where its written instrument provides that its income shall comprise only investment income, and its trustee is resident in Malta and either authorised under article 43(3) of the Trusts and Trustees Act or exempt from authorisation under article 43(6) of that Act (art. 27D(1)). | mt-foundations-and-trusts |
| Management company | Taxed as a company at the article 56(6) rate on its profit; its staff are on Malta payroll. VAT on its charges depends on the place of supply and the exemptions in the VAT Act. See "The family office's own costs" below. | malta-payroll, malta-ssc, malta-vat-return |
| Where any company or vehicle is resident, and what substance it needs | A company incorporated in Malta on or after 1 July 1994 is resident in Malta; any body of persons whose control and management are exercised in Malta is resident too (Cap. 123 art. 2(1)). | mt-company-residence-and-substance |
| Family members who move to Malta | Residence, domicile, the remittance basis, the non-dom minimum tax and the residence programmes. | mt-residence-programmes-for-wealthy-families, mt-non-dom, moving-to-malta-tax-residence |
| Death, gifts and passing the structure on | Malta charges duty on certain transfers, including transfers causa mortis, under the Duty on Documents and Transfers Act, Cap. 364. | mt-inheritance-and-succession |
Figures are for tax year 2026. Malta taxes by year of assessment, so income of calendar 2026 is taxed in year of assessment 2027. This Guide is the starting point for a principal, or an adviser, who is thinking about running a family's wealth from Malta. It names the usual Maltese building blocks, says in one table how each is taxed and which Guide covers it in depth, sets out the family office's own running costs, gives the order of the setup steps and the documents each step needs, and says what a Malta structure does not do. It does not repeat the deep Guides; it links to them. Pages were read on legislation.mt and residencymalta.gov.mt on 4 October 2026. The Acts print most rates and fractions in words, and this Guide keeps them in words.
The deep Guides in this set are mt-holding-company-participation-exemption, mt-foundations-and-trusts, mt-company-residence-and-substance, mt-residence-programmes-for-wealthy-families and mt-inheritance-and-succession. For a family member moving to Malta, see moving-to-malta-tax-residence and mt-non-dom. For the comparison with other countries, see family-holding-company-location-compared and family-office-residency-regimes-compared.
"Single-family office" is not a term defined in the Malta tax Acts read for this Guide. In this Guide it means the people and entities that hold, manage and administer one family's wealth, and serve no outside clients. In Malta the usual building blocks are these. A family uses some or all of them; none is required.
This table states only the headline rule and points to the Guide that proves it. The figures behind it are in the source tables further down.
| Building block | Malta tax in short | Deep Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Family holding company | Taxed as a company at the article 56(6) rate. Dividends and gains from a "participating holding" are exempt if the company leaves them out of its return and, for dividends, the anti-abuse conditions are met; gains on a holding in a Malta-resident company must also pass the beneficial owner test (Cap. 123 art. 12(1)(u)). It may instead pay tax and let shareholders claim a refund (Cap. 372 art. 48). | mt-holding-company-participation-exemption |
| Family investment company | Taxed as a company at the article 56(6) rate on interest and portfolio income. Shareholders may claim the refund under Cap. 372 art. 48(4A), at a lower fraction for passive interest. For a Malta-resident individual shareholder, whether article 12(1)(c)(iii) of the Income Tax Act and the last proviso to article 48(1) of Cap. 372 bar that refund is not settled; see mt-holding-company-participation-exemption. The company may instead elect the final tax in S.L. 123.217, which has a floor and a five-year lock-in. | mt-holding-company-participation-exemption |
| Foundation | By default taxed in the same manner as a company ordinarily resident and domiciled in Malta (S.L. 123.114 reg. 3). Its administrators may irrevocably elect trust treatment (reg. 4). | mt-foundations-and-trusts |
| Trust with a resident trustee | By default income allocated to beneficiaries is taxed in their hands (Cap. 123 art. 27D(3)(e) and (8)). Where all the income arises outside Malta (or is article 12(1)(c) income) AND every beneficiary is either not ordinarily resident in Malta, not domiciled in Malta, or wholly exempt under article 12, the income is treated as derived directly by the beneficiaries (art. 27D(3)(b)). A trust may elect to be taxed as a company only where its written instrument provides that its income shall comprise only investment income, and its trustee is resident in Malta and either authorised under article 43(3) of the Trusts and Trustees Act or exempt from authorisation under article 43(6) of that Act (art. 27D(1)). | mt-foundations-and-trusts |
| Management company | Taxed as a company at the article 56(6) rate on its profit; its staff are on Malta payroll. VAT on its charges depends on the place of supply and the exemptions in the VAT Act. See "The family office's own costs" below. | malta-payroll, malta-ssc, malta-vat-return |
| Where any company or vehicle is resident, and what substance it needs | A company incorporated in Malta on or after 1 July 1994 is resident in Malta; any body of persons whose control and management are exercised in Malta is resident too (Cap. 123 art. 2(1)). | mt-company-residence-and-substance |
| Family members who move to Malta | Residence, domicile, the remittance basis, the non-dom minimum tax and the residence programmes. | mt-residence-programmes-for-wealthy-families, mt-non-dom, moving-to-malta-tax-residence |
| Death, gifts and passing the structure on | Malta charges duty on certain transfers, including transfers causa mortis, under the Duty on Documents and Transfers Act, Cap. 364. | mt-inheritance-and-succession |
| Item | Value | Note (verbatim from the page) |
|---|---|---|
| Source | all figures below | https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/123/eng/pdf |
| Company rate, article 56(6); also a foundation taxed as a company and a trust that elected under article 27D(1) | thirty-five cents on every euro | "at the rate of thirty-five cents (0.35) on every euro of the chargeable income of every" |
Participating holding, route (a) of the article 2(1) definition (other routes exist; see mt-holding-company-participation-exemption) (and carrying at least five percent of any two of the right to vote, profits available for distribution and assets on a winding up) | at least five percent of the equity shares | "a company holds directly at least five percent of the equity shares" |
| "passive interest or royalties", article 2(1): interest not derived from a trade or business that suffered no foreign tax, or foreign tax at a rate below this | 5% | "at a rate of tax which is less than five per cent (5%)" |
| Tax deducted by a Malta company from an untaxed dividend paid to a "recipient", article 62(1) | fifteen per cent | "deduct therefrom tax at a rate of fifteen per cent" |
| Non-dom minimum tax trigger, article 56(27): foreign income derived (both readings below) | EUR 35,000 | "amounting to not less than thirty five thousand euro (€35,000)" |
| Non-dom minimum tax, article 56(27) | EUR 5,000 | "not less than five thousand euro (€5,000) per annum" |
| Company residence by incorporation, article 2(1) | incorporated in Malta on or after 1 July 1994 | "provided that a company incorporated in Malta on or after 1st July 1994 shall be resident in Malta" |
| Item | Value | Note (verbatim from the page) |
|---|---|---|
| Source | all figures below | https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/372/eng/pdf |
| Shareholder refund on dividends from the Maltese taxed account or foreign income account, article 48(4A)(a) | six-sevenths | "may claim a refund of six-sevenths of the Advance Company Income Tax" |
| Refund where the profits are passive interest or royalties, or dividends from a participating holding failing the article 12(1)(u) conditions, article 48(4A)(a) proviso (i) | five-sevenths | "the rate of refund shall be of five-sevenths of the said Advance Company Income Tax" |
| Foreign income account profits, article 48(4)(a) (the route where the company claimed double taxation relief, since article 48(4A) is then barred) | two-thirds | "may claim a refund of two-thirds of the Malta tax paid by the company" |
| Item | Value | Note (verbatim from the page) |
|---|---|---|
| Source | all figures below | https://legislation.mt/eli/sl/123.217/eng/pdf |
| Elective final tax, regulation 3(1)(b), in place of the article 56(6) rate | fifteen cents on every euro | "at the rate of fifteen cents (0.15) on every euro of the chargeable income" |
| Lock-in before the entity may return to the ordinary system, regulation 3(3) | five (5) years | "shall not be made before the end of the five (5)- year period" |
| Floor, regulation 3(4)(a) | ordinary tax less the refunds claimable by all shareholders, applying article 43(6) of the Act where applicable | "and applying the provisions of article 43(6) of the Act, where applicable" |
Corporate tax. A management company incorporated in Malta is resident in Malta (the date in the Cap. 123 table above) and pays tax on its chargeable income at the article 56(6) rate. In working out its income, it deducts outgoings and expenses only to the extent they were wholly and exclusively incurred in the production of the income (Cap. 123 art. 14(1)). The same test applies when a family company deducts the fee it pays the management company. How the fee is priced between related family entities is in malta-transfer-pricing. The annual accounts and audit are in malta-financial-statements. Forming the company is in malta-formation.
VAT. The VAT Act, Cap. 406, article 19(1), charges tax on a taxable supply at "eighteen per cent of the taxable value of the supply", other than the supplies in sub-article (2). Article 7 sends the question of where a supply takes place to the Third Schedule, and article 9(1) exempts the supplies in Parts One and Two of the Fifth Schedule. So whether the management company's charge to a family company bears Malta VAT, and whether the family company can recover it, turns on where the customer is established, what the service is and whether an exemption applies. This Guide does not settle that. Use malta-vat-return, and refer where the family companies make only exempt or no supplies.
Staff. The management company withholds income tax under the FSS and pays Class 1 social security for its employees. See malta-payroll and malta-ssc. Staff who move to Malta for the job may also look at the individual routes in moving-to-malta-tax-residence.
Licensing. Managing investments, acting as trustee or administering a foundation for others can need a licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority. The Income Tax Act itself refers to trustees authorised under article 43 of the Trusts and Trustees Act, Cap. 331 (Cap. 123 art. 27D(1)). Whether a management company that serves one family needs one depends on what it does and for whom. This Guide does not state those rules. Refer before the company starts.
The Residency Malta home page lists a programme called "Family Office Residency" (Residency Malta). Its terms are on pages that refused automated access (status code 403), so no condition, fee or tax effect of it is stated here. Refer to the agency and see family-office-residency-regimes-compared.
The routes whose terms can be read (non-dom ordinary residence, the Global Residence Programme, the Residence Programme, the Malta Permanent Residence Programme and the nomad permit) are in mt-residence-programmes-for-wealthy-families, with the individual position in mt-non-dom and moving-to-malta-tax-residence.
One rule catches family members who move to Malta and keep their wealth abroad. Article 56(27) of the Income Tax Act applies to an individual who is ordinarily resident but not domiciled in Malta, to whom provisos (i) and (ii) of article 4(1) apply, who is not taxed under another minimum-tax scheme, and who "derives income (including, in the case of a married couple whose income is chargeable to tax in terms of article 49 of the Act, the income derived by both spouses) amounting to not less than thirty five thousand euro (€35,000) ... arising outside Malta ... but which is not received or not fully received in Malta". That person has a yearly tax liability of at least the minimum tax in the Cap. 123 table. The page can be read two ways. On the literal reading, the trigger counts all the foreign income derived, part of which may have been brought to Malta. On a narrower reading, only the part not received in Malta counts. The accountant has not ruled between them. The tax authority's guidance on this point could not be read for this Guide. Where the two readings give different answers, refer.
This is the setup order. Each step names the law and the documents it needs.
cfc-and-substance-rules-compared and exit-taxes-when-a-family-moves. Malta law does not answer those questions.mt-foundations-and-trusts.mt-foundations-and-trusts on private trustees) under Cap. 123 art. 27D(1) files the election form "not later than thirty days from the date of the establishment of such trust or the appointment of a resident trustee whichever is the later". The election is irrevocable. A foundation that wants trust treatment gives the Commissioner written notice under S.L. 123.114 reg. 4; that election is also irrevocable, and the regulation states no deadline, so settle the timing before income arises.malta-formation. A company incorporated in Malta on or after the date in the Cap. 123 table is resident in Malta (Cap. 123 art. 2(1)). Board composition and where decisions are taken are in mt-company-residence-and-substance.mt-foundations-and-trusts for assets going in and out.mt-holding-company-participation-exemption.malta-payroll and malta-ssc; VAT registration and the treatment of the charges in malta-vat-return (Cap. 406). Write the service agreement and fee basis before the first invoice.mt-residence-programmes-for-wealthy-families and mt-non-dom (Cap. 123 art. 4(1) and 56(27)).mt-inheritance-and-succession).| Item | Value | Note (verbatim from the page) |
|---|---|---|
| Source | all figures below | https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/16/eng/pdf |
| Minimum endowment in the deed of a foundation (not a public benefit foundation), Second Schedule art. 29(2) | EUR 1,164.69 | "one thousand and one hundred and sixty-four euro and sixty-nine cents (€1,164.69)" |
mt-inheritance-and-succession.cfc-and-substance-rules-compared. This Guide states no foreign rule.mt-holding-company-participation-exemption. Sales of Malta property follow mt-capital-gains.mt-company-residence-and-substance.Malta suits a family that wants an EU company with the refund system or the participation exemption, a civil-law foundation or a trust, and English-language administration. Another country may fit better where the family's home country treats a Malta company as low-taxed, where the family wants no corporate tax at the company level, or where the principal wants a residence regime Malta does not offer. The comparisons are in family-holding-company-location-compared and family-office-residency-regimes-compared. Trusts against foundations across countries: trusts-vs-foundations-by-country.
All amounts in this section are hypothetical. The family members live outside Malta, none of them is ordinarily resident or domiciled in Malta, none acts on behalf of such a person, and none is an EU or EEA individual taxed under the provisos to article 56(1)(c) (the four kinds of "recipient" in Cap. 123 art. 61(a)). The family has EUR 50,000,000 of investments and puts them into Malta companies that the family members own directly. A foundation on top is left out to keep each step provable; see mt-foundations-and-trusts for how one changes the answer.
Who holds what.
Year 2026, touch-points.
mt-holding-company-participation-exemption). When it pays them on to the family, the family members are not "recipients" under article 61(a) (on the assumptions above, including the article 61(a)(iv) assumption; a family member with an EU or EEA passport must be checked against it), so no tax is deducted under article 62, and under article 66 the dividend is not "charged to tax under this Act in the hands of such person". Their home countries may tax it.malta-payroll and malta-ssc. VAT on the EUR 990,000 charge is not computed here; see "The family office's own costs".cfc-and-substance-rules-compared, exit-taxes-when-a-family-moves, succession-and-forced-heirship-compared).mt-holding-company-participation-exemption).malta-vat-return).mt-capital-gains and mt-holding-company-participation-exemption, and refer where a Malta-resident owner sells a Malta-resident subsidiary.This Guide is a draft from official pages, not tax advice. Rules change and facts differ; have a Malta accountant confirm the structure before acting.
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