Malta taxes individuals on a progressive scale from 0 to 35 per cent. It is unusual because there is more than one set of bands. Which set applies depends on whether you are single, married or a single parent, and how many children you have.
The figures below are the current ones. Check your own situation against them rather than assuming the single rates apply.
These are the rates for 2026, published by the Malta Tax and Customs Administration. The top rate of 35 per cent begins at €60,001 in every computation. Below that, the computations differ in how much you earn tax free and how quickly you move up.
How Maltese tax works
There is more than one set of bands
Single, married and parent computations each have their own thresholds. Choosing the right one changes what you owe, sometimes substantially.
This is the single most common thing newcomers get wrong on a first return.
Working in Malta
The Final Settlement System
If you are employed, tax and national insurance come off before you are paid, under the Final Settlement System.
Self-employed people pay provisional tax instalments through the year instead.
Banking here
Domicile and remittance
Malta distinguishes between residence and domicile, and that distinction decides whether foreign income is taxed here at all.
If you have income arising outside Malta, professional advice is worth paying for at this stage.
Residence routes
How to read these
Malta uses a subtraction method rather than taxing each slice separately. You take your total chargeable income, apply the percentage for the band it falls in, then subtract the figure shown. A single person on €30,000 is in the 25 per cent band, so the calculation is 25 per cent of €30,000, which is €7,500, less €3,400, giving €4,100.
Single rates
If no other computation applies to you
- €0 to €12,000
- 0%
- €12,001 to €16,000
- 15%, less €1,800
- €16,001 to €60,000
- 25%, less €3,400
- €60,001 and over
- 35%, less €9,400
Married rates
These apply to married couples computing jointly. The tax-free band rises with children.
Married, no qualifying children
- €0 to €15,000
- 0%
- €15,001 to €23,000
- 15%, less €2,250
- €23,001 to €60,000
- 25%, less €4,550
- €60,001 and over
- 35%, less €10,550
Married, one qualifying child
- €0 to €17,500
- 0%
- €17,501 to €26,500
- 15%, less €2,625
- €26,501 to €60,000
- 25%, less €5,275
- €60,001 and over
- 35%, less €11,275
Married, two or more qualifying children
- €0 to €22,500
- 0%
- €22,501 to €32,000
- 15%, less €3,375
- €32,001 to €60,000
- 25%, less €6,575
- €60,001 and over
- 35%, less €12,575
Parent rates
For an individual who is unmarried, widowed, divorced or separated, and who maintains a child under their custody.
Parent
- €0 to €13,000
- 0%
- €13,001 to €17,500
- 15%, less €1,950
- €17,501 to €60,000
- 25%, less €3,700
- €60,001 and over
- 35%, less €9,700
Parent, one qualifying child
- €0 to €14,500
- 0%
- €14,501 to €21,000
- 15%, less €2,175
- €21,001 to €60,000
- 25%, less €4,275
- €60,001 and over
- 35%, less €10,275
Parent, two or more qualifying children
- €0 to €18,500
- 0%
- €18,501 to €25,500
- 15%, less €2,775
- €25,501 to €60,000
- 25%, less €5,325
- €60,001 and over
- 35%, less €11,325
Broadly, this means a child under 18, or under 23 if in full-time education, who is maintained under your custody. A single parent may use the married computation instead where that produces a better result, so it is worth checking both rather than assuming.
What else comes out of a Maltese salary
Income tax is not the whole deduction. Social security contributions are separate and are paid by both employee and employer for employed people, and directly by the self-employed. They fund pensions, sickness and unemployment benefits, and they are not optional.
If your income is not all Maltese
Malta’s treatment of foreign income depends on both residence and domicile, which are different things. A person resident here but domiciled elsewhere is taxed on income arising in Malta, and on foreign income brought into Malta. Worldwide income is not taxed. There are conditions, minimum charges and anti-avoidance rules attached, and several special residence programmes have their own tax treatment entirely.
The bands above are published rates and we have taken them from the authority that sets them. How they apply to you is a different question, and one that turns on residence, domicile, the source of your income and your family circumstances. If foreign income, property or a residence programme is involved, take advice from a licensed Maltese tax practitioner rather than relying on any website.
Rates, thresholds and the rules behind them are published by the Malta Tax and Customs Administration. It administers personal income tax under the Income Tax Act, Chapter 123 of the Laws of Malta. Bands are revised in the annual budget, so check the year before relying on a figure.