Incorporating in Malta is the start, not the finish. Every company carries a filing calendar that runs each year without exception, and the deadlines are enforced.
Company formation in Malta gives you an EU company with an effective 5% on trading income. Keeping it in good standing takes an annual return, approved financial statements, an audit, a corporate tax return and quarterly VAT filings, each on its own clock. According to the latest Malta Tax and Customs Administration report, just 52% of corporate income tax returns were filed on time, and 43% were never filed at all. Those are not small companies being careless. That is a market-wide problem.
We handle all of it. Filings, deadlines, audit coordination, tax and VAT submissions, registry notifications. This page sets out exactly what is required and when.
The Annual Return to the Malta Business Registry
Every Maltese company must file an annual return with the MBR within 42 days of its made-up date, which is the anniversary of incorporation. The return confirms the company’s officers, registered office, share capital and shareholders, and where applicable a beneficial ownership form is filed alongside it.
An annual registration fee is payable with the return, calculated on the company’s authorised share capital and typically ranging from €100 to €1,400.
The deadline is strict. Late filing attracts an immediate default penalty followed by daily charges that accumulate until the return is accepted, and the statutory cap reaches €2,329.37 per return. Where a company neglects the filing across several years, the accumulated penalties can paralyse its operations, since it becomes difficult to obtain a certificate of good standing or to complete any corporate transaction.
The MBR sends email reminders to directors and officers before and during the submission window. Those reminders reach whoever is on the register, which is not always the person who acts on them.
Financial Statements, the Two Deadlines That Trip Companies Up
This is where most Maltese companies go wrong, because there are two separate deadlines and they are frequently confused.
- First, approval. The directors must present the annual accounts to the shareholders in general meeting, and they must be approved within 10 months of the financial year end for a private company, or within 7 months for a public company.
- Second, filing. Once approved, the accounts must be filed with the MBR within 42 days of that approval.
A private company with a 31 December year end therefore approves its accounts by 31 October the following year and files them by around 12 December. Miss the first deadline and the second moves with it, but the penalties do not wait.
Late filing of financial statements carries a separate penalty structure from the annual return, starting with a default fine and accruing daily charges until the accounts are lodged. Directors may be held personally liable, and persistent non-filing can trigger striking-off proceedings.
One point specific to newly incorporated companies. A company registered between January and June must adopt a 31 December year end. A company registered between July and December may choose an initial reporting period of 12 to 18 months. Where that first period runs beyond 12 months, the time allowed to present the accounts is shortened accordingly, though the directors must always have at least three months after the period ends.
The Statutory Audit You Probably Cannot Avoid
Maltese companies must file audited financial statements, prepared under IFRS or GAPSME, the General Accounting Principles for Small and Medium-Sized Entities, and audited by an auditor holding a practising certificate under the Accountancy Profession Act.
Founders often ask whether a small company can skip the audit. In practice, almost never. Even where the Companies Act offers an exemption on size grounds, tax law generally still requires audited accounts to support the income tax return, so the audit happens regardless. Budgeting for it from year one avoids an unpleasant surprise in month nine.
We coordinate the audit with the accounting cycle so the accounts are ready before the approval deadline rather than after it, which is the difference between a routine year and a penalty.
Corporate Tax Return and Payment
Every company registered in Malta must file an annual corporate income tax return with the Malta Tax and Customs Administration, generally within nine months of the financial year end.
This is the filing that the MTCA data shows going wrong most often. Note the sequence, because it matters. The tax return depends on the audited accounts, the audit depends on the bookkeeping being current, and the whole chain runs backwards from a deadline that arrives before the accounts filing deadline. Companies that treat bookkeeping as a year-end exercise routinely miss it.
Late payment carries interest at 0.6% per month on the outstanding tax under the Income Tax Management Act, running until the balance is settled.
For companies whose shareholders claim the 6/7ths refund, timing is not just about penalties. The refund follows the distribution and the claim, so a late return delays the cash. Where a fiscal unit is in place, the position is different and the net rate is paid directly, which we assess as part of the annual cycle.
VAT Returns
Where the company is registered under Article 10, VAT returns are filed quarterly, covering three months of activity, and submitted online. The electronic return is due by the 22nd day of the second month following the end of the quarter.
Nil returns are still returns. A quarter with no activity must be filed, and the obligation continues until the registration is cancelled. Companies registered under Article 11 or Article 12 have different obligations, which we set according to the activity rather than by default.
Beneficial Ownership, the Filing With the Shortest Clock
Beneficial ownership carries the tightest deadline of the whole calendar. Any change to beneficial ownership must be notified to the MBR within 14 days, and failure exposes the company and its officers to penalties.
Separately, the annual return must confirm the beneficial ownership details on each anniversary of registration, or declare the change.
Fourteen days is short enough that companies discover the breach after the fact, typically during a transaction or a bank review. Where all direct shareholders are natural persons, the shareholder information filed with the MBR is treated as sufficient. Legal Notice 127 of 2025 broadened the framework and extended obligations to private trustees, so structures that were previously outside scope may now be inside it.
Tell us before a change happens rather than after. The notification is simple when it is on time and expensive when it is not.
Changes to Directors, Shareholders and the Registered Office
Any change to the company’s officers, registered office or share capital must be notified to the MBR. This includes appointing or removing a director, changing the company secretary, moving the registered address, and altering the share capital.
These filings are routine, and they are also the ones most likely to be forgotten by a company run from abroad. An out-of-date register causes real friction later, since banks, counterparties and auditors all check the public record before they act. We file every notification as part of the administration package.
Your Annual Compliance Calendar
| Obligation | Deadline |
| Annual return to the MBR | Within 42 days of the made-up date |
| Approval of financial statements, private company | Within 10 months of the financial year end |
| Approval of financial statements, public company | Within 7 months of the financial year end |
| Filing of financial statements | Within 42 days of approval |
| Corporate income tax return | Generally within 9 months of the financial year end |
| VAT return, Article 10 | By the 22nd of the second month after each quarter |
| Beneficial ownership change | Within 14 days |
| Beneficial ownership confirmation | With the annual return |
Closing a Malta Company
A company that has stopped trading should be closed properly rather than left dormant, because filing obligations and penalties continue until it is removed from the register.
Under Article 214A of the Companies Act, a company registered for at least six months may apply for voluntary dissolution and striking off. The route is available to solvent companies with no outstanding liabilities.
The sequence in brief.
- Pass a shareholders’ resolution to dissolve the company
- Bring all outstanding filings and tax returns current, since arrears block the process
- Settle liabilities and close the corporate bank account
- Cancel the VAT registration and any employer registration
- Submit the striking off application to the Registrar
- The Registrar publishes the notice and, absent objection, strikes the company off
Where the company has debts or unresolved disputes, a formal winding up with a liquidator is required instead, which takes longer and costs considerably more. That is precisely why staying current matters throughout the company’s life rather than at the end of it.