Rent tax for residential properties will fall to a flat rate of 15 per cent from the current system, which can go up to 35 per cent, Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech said yesterday.
The announcement was made at his public consultation session at Castille and was welcomed with applause from the audience that gathered to ask questions, make suggestions and criticise aspects of his ministry.
Mr Grech said the current system had given rise to rampant tax evasion but now that the rate would become more reasonable, he expected an “honest” response from citizens.
Anticipating an increase in declared rental income, Mr Grech said the Government would also impose harsher penalties for those who failed to make declarations.
Mr Grech also promised the reactivation of popular investment schemes such as the Jeremie Fund and the micro credit scheme for small and medium businesses.
Mr Grech – who is responsible for EU affairs and the implementation of the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto – said the Government had already started to implement various proposals.
The Youth Guarantee was about to start being implemented with a group of 350 young people aged between 18 and 24. Some €2 million were allocated for the project, which would provide unemployed young people with jobs, training or education.
The Government would in the coming months also implement its pledge to publish draft laws online to gauge feedback from the public. He said this would ideally be in place by December but definitely not later than March.
Meanwhile, the Government was also working on the Whistleblower’s Act, which should be delivered before Parliament’s summer recess. He said special software had been created by the Government’s IT agency to coordinate the work of all ministries and ensure the electoral manifesto pledges were delivered according to their timeframes and targets.
Mr Grech said Malta’s EU presidency in 2017 would create employment for scores of people. Some of these would be employed by the civil service but many would also need to be specialised young people coming from outside the system.
He added that Malta’s EU presidency came at an interesting time when the EU would undoubtedly be discussing whether to move towards more or less integration.
Meanwhile, Ian Borg, who spoke about the work in his parliamentary secretariat, announced that some €3.8 million were allocated to be invested in employment training through the European Social Fund.