Incentives for business to help minimise the effects of COVID-19

The Government of Malta has issued the following two incentives for business, with the aim of helping to minimise the effects of the current instability in relation to COVID-19:

1. Postponement of Payment of Certain Taxes; and
2. Call for the Facilitation of Teleworking Activities (through the Business Development and Continuity Scheme).

Both incentives along with the application process shall be handled by Malta Enterprise.

Postponement of Payment of Certain Taxes

A deferral from the payment of provisional tax, VAT and national insurance contribution on salaries shall be granted to enterprises, including self-employed persons.

The incentive is primarily aimed, but not limited to, the tourism and hospitality sector as well as the entertainment, transport and manufacturing sectors.

Further guidance is expected with respect to the manner in which this incentive shall be applied.

Call for the Facilitation of Teleworking Activities (through the Business Development and Continuity Scheme)

Employers (including self-employed persons) are being called upon to provide teleworking arrangements to their employees who can carry out their work from their residence. The call shall support employers to invest in technology that enable teleworking and to partially cover the costs of teleworking solutions.

In order to be eligible to benefit from support in terms of this incentive a formal teleworking agreement must be in place which connects the employee to the workplace (via a VPN or similar solution).

The total support under this call shall be capped at €2,000,000 and shall be limited up to €500 per teleworking agreement and €4,000 per undertaking.

Support shall be awarded in the form of a cash grant which shall be awarded against 45% of eligible costs incurred after the 1st of March 2020. The following costs are eligible for this cash rebate:

1. Purchasing and/or leasing of computer hardware (including operating systems) which are considered portable including installation and setting up of connectivity software;
2. Communication solutions (hardware and software) that allows different users to connect to their place of work (VPN, Point-to-point connection, etc.).

This call closes on 30th March 2020.