Tax Credits for relevant qualifications
A new legal notice has been published whereby the following tax credit was launched.
An individual who is a student shall become entitled to the tax credit after following a relevant course and he/she successfully completes that course.
The tax credit applies from 1st January 2017 and shall be determined at 70% of the study costs paid by the student for the period commencing on the date of the commencement of the relevant course till the end of the course or on a date specified by the Ministry.
The tax credit shall be due as a deduction from the tax payable by the student on his chargeable income for the year of assessment commencing on the 1st January of the year immediately following that in which the relevant qualification is obtained and any amount not absorbed by the tax payable for that year of assessment may be carried forward to be allowed as a tax credit for the subsequent 10 years of assessment.
In order to benefit from such tax credit the student needs to submit to the Commissioner a number of documents together with the tax return for the first year of assessment for which the tax credit is claimed including:
- a declaration that he is not and has not been entitled from any source whatsoever to any reimbursement of or compensation for the costs claimed as a tax credit or any part of those costs;
- a copy of the certificate or an equivalent document issued by a university or institution recognised by the Department, providing the course in question, confirming the successful completion of the course by that individual;
- a copy of the tax credit certificate issued by the Department confirming that the qualification obtained is a relevant qualification.
The Ministry shall not issue the tax credit certificate in respect of a course of studies that commences after the 31st December 2016 or after such earlier date as the Ministry may specify by means of a notice in the Gazette.
Provided further that the administration and processing of applications, whether pending or otherwise, submitted by or after the 31st December 2016, shall be assigned to the Ministry for Education and Employment
The Ministry shall not issue the tax certificate in respect of an application that reaches the Ministry after years from the day on which the relevant qualification is obtained.
The Tax Credit is being administered by Malta Enterprise and application forms may be submitted online at the following link: https://education.gov.mt/en/education/myScholarship/get-qualified/Pages/default.aspx.