Malta’s competitiveness, ease of doing business and compliance at heart of accountants’ Budget proposals

The Malta Institute of Accountants (MIA) has highlighted simplification, efficiency, reduced bureaucracy to facilitate business, compliance and competitiveness as top priorities in a set of proposals presented to Minister for Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana, in view of the upcoming Budget 2024 and beyond.

The much-anticipated Budget speech will take place at the end of the month, on 30th October.

The initiatives presented to Minister Caruana included a combination of policy measures and fiscal incentives, which address industry bottlenecks. The proposals seek to improve administrative processes to enhance compliance and correctness whilst benefiting the business community and taxpayers, as well as the overall quality of the Maltese jurisdiction.

While elements having a direct impact on members of the accountancy profession continued to be central to the Institute's proposals, several of the recommendations put forward also look at the wider economic system and aim to serve the broader interests of both the business community and individual taxpayers.

The MIA highlighted the importance of further strengthening the relationship between accountancy professionals and the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA). This collaboration encompasses ongoing dialogue, consultation and the publication of guidelines, which are essential to improve the ease of doing business in Malta while ensuring adherence to the applicable regulatory framework.

The Institute also reaffirmed the need for stronger consideration of sustainability in policy development. Addressing the skills and resource gap challenge currently impacting the profession, MIA representatives insisted that solutions should focus on attracting and retaining foreign professionals to maintain, and further create, value added to the industry and the wider economy.

These recommendations were presented by MIA representatives to Minister Caruana during a meeting held at the Ministry for Finance and Employment. Prior to the meeting, the Institute said it had consulted extensively with its Committees and Groups in drawing up such proposals.