The government may have to go back to the drawing board after stakeholders expressed dismay at proposed fiscal incentives for third pillar pensions.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna had promised to launch optional private pensions but stakeholders who were given a sneak preview felt that they would not be sufficient to encourage people to put more away to ensure they had a decent retirement.
Sources told The Business Observer (distributed with Times of Malta) that the government intended to waive the 15 per cent withholding tax on interest paid on contributions of up to €1,000 a year which were put into an approved account.
This translates to a maximum tax saving of €6 a year. The government put aside €1.5 million in the Budget for this scheme.
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