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Malta: how residence and citizenship work

Residence tests, reporting duties, social security, living base and citizenship for Malta, with the official source for each.

Short answer

Malta's Income Tax Act defines an individual resident in Malta as one who resides there, apart from temporary absences the Commissioner considers reasonable, and the scope of tax then depends on ordinary residence and domicile. For a person not ordinarily resident or not domiciled in Malta, foreign income is taxed on the amount received in Malta and foreign capital gains are not taxed, subject to a minimum tax for some non-domiciled individuals.

Key facts

Tax basisResidence, remittance basis for some
Tax year1 January to 31 December (basis year)
Taxes citizens abroadNot as a general rule
Residence tests recorded3
RegionEurope

How Malta decides tax residence

Each test is recorded separately with its own ID. Meeting or missing one test does not settle residence on its own.

MT-RES-01Ties testNot professionally reviewed

Residing in Malta

The Income Tax Act defines 'resident in Malta' for an individual as a person who resides in Malta, except for temporary absences that the Commissioner considers reasonable and not inconsistent with the claim to be resident. The definition itself does not set a day count.

Source: Income Tax Act (Cap. 123), article 2Checked: November 8, 2026
MT-RES-02Registration, domicile or statusNot professionally reviewed

Ordinary residence and domicile set the scope of tax

Under the proviso to article 4(1), income arising outside Malta to a person who is not ordinarily resident or not domiciled in Malta is taxed on the amount received in Malta, and no tax is payable on capital gains arising outside Malta to such a person. Domicile is a legal status that is separate from residence.

Source: Income Tax Act (Cap. 123), article 4(1)Checked: November 8, 2026
MT-RES-03Day countNot professionally reviewed

Temporary residents

Article 13 provides that tax is not payable on income arising outside Malta to a person who is in Malta for a temporary purpose only, without intent to establish residence, and who has not actually resided in Malta for periods equal in total to six months in the year preceding the year of assessment. The law states months, not a day number.

Source: Income Tax Act (Cap. 123), article 13Day method: not recordedChecked: November 8, 2026

Reporting duties to check

  • Minimum tax for some non-domiciled individuals (article 56(27)). An individual who is ordinarily resident but not domiciled in Malta, taxed under the remittance provisos, and who has at least €35,000 of foreign income that is not received or not fully received in Malta, is subject to a minimum tax of €5,000 per year, unless taxed under a scheme that already sets a minimum tax. Source
  • Persons taxed at 15 cents in the euro (article 56(11)). The Act refers to persons charged at a rate of 0.15 in the euro under article 56(11), who are taxed only on income and gains arising in Malta and on foreign income received in Malta. Check the conditions of the specific scheme in the Act and subsidiary legislation. Source

Social security

Within the EU, a person is covered by one country's social security system at a time, and which one depends on work situation and residence, not nationality. Check the EU coordination rules and any bilateral agreement for work involving non-EU countries.

Living base

EU citizens can move to Malta under EU free movement rules, with permanent residence after a continuous 5-year period of legal residence. Others generally need a visa or residence permit. A residence permit or residence programme does not by itself decide tax residence, ordinary residence or domicile under the Income Tax Act.

How visas, permits and tax residence differ

Citizenship

Under article 10 of the Maltese Citizenship Act, naturalisation generally requires residence in Malta for the 12 months immediately before the application and, in the six years before that, residence totalling at least four years, plus adequate knowledge of Maltese or English and good character. Article 7 provides that a person may lawfully be a citizen of Malta and of another country at the same time. On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice of the EU held that Malta's 2020 investor citizenship scheme infringed EU law (Case C-181/23), and the Act was amended in 2025 (Act XXI of 2025).

Read the citizenship guide

Questions to take to a professional

  1. Would my presence and ties in Malta make me resident under the Income Tax Act, given that the definition sets no day count?
  2. Am I ordinarily resident in Malta, and where is my domicile?
  3. Which of my foreign income would count as received in Malta under the remittance provisos?
  4. Could the minimum tax under article 56(27) apply to me?
  5. Does any scheme taxed under article 56(11) apply, and what are its current conditions?
  6. If another country also treats me as resident, how does the relevant tax treaty tie-breaker apply?
  7. How do the 2025 amendments to the Maltese Citizenship Act affect the routes to citizenship?

Official authorities

Sources

Guides that mention Malta

Second citizenship: what changes and what doesn't

Other countries in Europe

🇧🇬 Bulgaria🇨🇭 Switzerland🇨🇾 Cyprus🇨🇿 Czechia🇩🇪 Germany🇪🇪 Estonia🇪🇸 Spain🇫🇷 France
Countries covered
Malta
Sources
5 sources listed above
Tax year
Current rules as checked
Review
Not professionally reviewed
Sources checked November 8, 2026