Individuals and companies with undeclared assets abroad are being urged to come forward and regularise their position through an asset repatriation programme launched yesterday.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said beneficiaries would pay a 7.5 per cent fee on the value of the assets which may include properties and shares. However, those opting to repatriate their assets would pay five per cent.
Undeclared shareholders’ loans, which are a debt-like form of financing provided by shareholders, will only be eligible if they were listed in the company’s financial statement published prior to the last Budget.
However, cash is being excluded from this programme due to EU anti-money laundering directives. Prof. Scicluna said that a cap on the amount of cash allowed in financial transactions is also in the pipeline as part of these directives.
Those who do not conform would be liable to being investigated
The scheme will be open for three months and there will be a three-week period to repatriate assets abroad once it closes.
Prof. Scicluna said that those who do not conform would be liable to being investigated. He warned that this was highly likely due to increasingly stringent rules which obliged financial institutions to exchange information.
He said that banks were notifying holders of overseas accounts to disclose details about their assets with their respective national authorities.
When asked, Prof. Scicluna did not provide an estimate of the value of undeclared assets, saying the aim was not to raise money but for people to regularise themselves.
The income the government received from such schemes had progressively fallen over the years as more people had declared their overseas assets, he added.
The scheme, he said, was also intended for those who had inherited assets and would like to regularise their position.
The programme also follows global trends and similar schemes launched in countries such as France, Italy, Switzerland, and the UK, Prof. Scicluna added.
Registration must be done through a registration agent, normally a financial institution or broker, appointed by the Central Bank, and requires the submission of original documentation confirming that the applicant was the beneficial owner of the registered assets on the applicable date.