By means of Legal Notice 170 of 2019, the Government of Malta has published new seed investment scheme (income tax) rules. The purpose of these rules is to grant tax relief to natural persons investing in start-ups.
The rules shall apply to qualifying investors who subscribe to fully paid up equity shares at par in a qualifying company on their own behalf. Qualifying investors must be natural persons who are resident of Malta and they must bear the full risk in respect of their investment. The investment made in a qualifying company shall in aggregate not exceed Eur750,000 per qualifying company. For the investment to benefit from these rules, the qualifying investor shall continue to hold the investment in the qualifying company for a period of not less than three years. Furthermore the qualifying investor shall not be connected to the qualifying company prior to the subscription of the equity shares.