Anyone living in / trading from Malta?

[Jack o'Clubs]

I'm considering emmigrating from the UK to Malta this year with my family and was wondering if anyone on these boards has made that move or was based there?

If so, a few words of advice would be appreciated: on trading, a few immigration specifics and life in general there. I'm getting some professional advice, but from the horses mouth might be more useful!

The island is apparently wired for broadband, but I've heard the connection quality is low. Does the system ever go down for more than a few hours? Are the local brokers okay, or do you trade offshore? Any firms to recommend, or avoid? FYI, I trade UK equities, and have just started a foray into FTSE futures / s'bets.

Are there any good ex-pat clubs or similar to get a social life going when we arrive? I know the island fairly well as a tourist, but any recommendations for where a young family might live? I was thinking about somewhere around Sliema or St Julians. We're going out in a few weeks for a recce, so will have a better idea after that...

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[orlose]

also interested anybody else et?

 

[DaxDestroyer]

I'm considering emmigrating from the UK to Malta this year with my family and was wondering if anyone on these boards has made that move or was based there?

If so, a few words of advice would be appreciated: on trading, a few immigration specifics and life in general there. I'm getting some professional advice, but from the horses mouth might be more useful!

The island is apparently wired for broadband, but I've heard the connection quality is low. Does the system ever go down for more than a few hours? Are the local brokers okay, or do you trade offshore? Any firms to recommend, or avoid? FYI, I trade UK equities, and have just started a foray into FTSE futures / s'bets.

Are there any good ex-pat clubs or similar to get a social life going when we arrive? I know the island fairly well as a tourist, but any recommendations for where a young family might live? I was thinking about somewhere around Sliema or St Julians. We're going out in a few weeks for a recce, so will have a better idea after that...

Thanks in advance for any replies.

May I ask you, why you chose Malta?
Some of my friends went to Gibraltar, but came back.
Some went to Mallorca, still trading from there.
Some went to Cyprus, also hanging in.
But Malta? It is said to be nice, but very small, VERY small

 

[orlose]

got a wife and kid.
heard its meant to be extremely safe.
good free schools,free healthcare.
slightly lower tax than the uk.
only £100 for a trip between here and there.
sun,sea,sand
english is spoken
no council tax

 

[zupcon]

I'm considering emmigrating from the UK to Malta this year with my family and was wondering if anyone on these boards has made that move or was based there?

If so, a few words of advice would be appreciated: on trading, a few immigration specifics and life in general there. I'm getting some professional advice, but from the horses mouth might be more useful!

The island is apparently wired for broadband, but I've heard the connection quality is low. Does the system ever go down for more than a few hours? Are the local brokers okay, or do you trade offshore? Any firms to recommend, or avoid? FYI, I trade UK equities, and have just started a foray into FTSE futures / s'bets.

Are there any good ex-pat clubs or similar to get a social life going when we arrive? I know the island fairly well as a tourist, but any recommendations for where a young family might live? I was thinking about somewhere around Sliema or St Julians. We're going out in a few weeks for a recce, so will have a better idea after that...

Thanks in advance for any replies.

I was there for a while, mainly for business and taxation reasons, and I still have a place in Bhar Ic Caghaq. People either seam to love it or hate it, there is no middle ground. I hate the place, but there are things I miss when I'm not there, mainly weather, and the complete insanity of the place.

The standard of cable internet is probably better than I've currently got in the UK, and problems in general are sorted pretty quickly. One thing that definitely causes problems are power cuts, and these can be quite common in the summer months, although the frequency does seam to be reducing as the infrastructure gets better.

 

[orlose]

please explain whats so insane about it compared to the uk?

 

[DaxDestroyer]

I was there for a while, mainly for business and taxation reasons, and I still have a place in Bhar Ic Caghaq. People either seam to love it or hate it, there is no middle ground. I hate the place, but there are things I miss when I'm not there, mainly weather, and the complete insanity of the place.

The standard of cable internet is probably better than I've currently got in the UK, and problems in general are sorted pretty quickly. One thing that definitely causes problems are power cuts, and these can be quite common in the summer months, although the frequency does seam to be reducing as the infrastructure gets better.

Power cuts? ooops So Cyprus is the better choice for sure :smart:

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

May I ask you, why you chose Malta?
Some of my friends went to Gibraltar, but came back.
Some went to Mallorca, still trading from there.
Some went to Cyprus, also hanging in.
But Malta? It is said to be nice, but very small, VERY small

It wouldn't be my first choice (actually I quite like the UK), and I was particularly concerned about its size, but there were very specific tax reasons (not trading related), and the few alternatives like Monaco that offered the same dodge were just crazily expensive places to live. As you can tell from my dates of posting, we never went...paid up for good tax advice here instead.

Having said that, we did spend some time there sussing the island out, and although the concern about getting bored on a small island never went away, we really liked the buzz in Valetta, or the area around St Julians. We would have needed to stay for at least three years for the tax scheme to have worked, and would probably have been very happy there. If it hadn't been for the fact that we had kids settled in school in the UK and we had some concerns about the quality of schools on Malta (having visited quite a few there, both Maltese and international), we would probably have gone.

 

[orlose]

please can you explain what concerns you had about the schools?its one of my main reasons for moving out of the UK

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

please can you explain what concerns you had about the schools?its one of my main reasons for moving out of the UK

It's horses for courses. The local schools were like something out of the '50's, which is in some respects (discipline, deferance) a good thing, but equipment levels, etc were very basic - and Catholicism is rammed down the kids' throats. The private international schools suffered from small-island syndrome - they were basically okay (and fairly cheap), but also were overbearingly religious and the staff frankly weren't the best in the world - presumably the more talented and ambitious teachers had all left for bigger countries and opportunities. I would stress this was a very personal judgement (not wholly shared by Mrs o'Clubs for example) - and if you're serious about it spend a week over there scouting around. This time of year its as cheap as chips to pick up a one-week hotel and flights deal, and not a bad thing to see the island in the winter as well as in its summer prime.

 

[ravenglass]

I love the place.

 

[soldintime]

I have moved to Gozo since April 2008. I am renting a very nice 4 bedroom, 5 bathroom house with large pool. For tax reasons Malta is fantastic to trade from. EU persons can stay easily and they have non dom rules that can keep all your overseas income tax free (WITH SOME PLANING)

Europe has a few locations where income from trading can be tax free:

* Ireland - through non dom rule but not for UK born.
* Andora - no tax but hard to get in to and isolated (no airport)
* UK - non dom rule but only for 7 years or pay £30K per year. Spreadbetting allows for tax free trading for the moment.
* Monaco - no tax but very expensive
* Cyprus - Overseas investments are tax free (don't know if overseas property is included)
* Croatia - Similar to Cyprus but as not in Eu maybe a bit harder to stay permanent.
* Gibraltar - High net worth application needed and still some tax to pay
* Isle of man - 18% taxation plus rainy weather.

Cyprus looks good but it is futher away from Europe (4-4.5 hours from UK) and is suffering a severe water shortage which is driving up the cost of living considerably.

As for non eu members malta has a permanent residency scheme on which you have to pay a fixed amount of tax. Still very low compared to tax savings you can make.

As far as trading. I have 2 internet connections and a UPS. 5-30MBps connections are now readily available as well as 3g connections if you want to be mobile. I have had 2 10 minutes power cuts in the last 5 months.

If you are trading using automated trades on metatrader for instance I would host the metatrader app using a reliable hosting provider.

Living - Yes the islands are small but pretty well connected to the rest of Europe. When I lived in the UK I was sometimes for more than 4-5 months in an area smaller than Malta. We tend to fly out every 2 months to get a break.

Schooling is very Catholic but the standard is better than you would get from UK schools.

Malta is OK for an English speaking no tax country to trade from in Europe. It has one of the best climates in the world. Cyprus is a good alternative but further away. I am not intending to stay in Malta or Gozo for the rest of my life but for the next 2-3 years it suits me well.

Of course there are plenty of countries outside the Eu where you can trade tax free. All have their pros and cons.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

[wfo]

Hi soldintime - very interested in your experiences with trading from Gozo/Malta. Dropped you a pm.

 

[S+Rtrader]

I'm a full time trader. My trading became systematic profitable 5 years ago. I was living in Europe, at a high tax jurisdiction, paying 30% tax on my trading profits. I day trade one European market (bond futures) and swing trade 3 other markets (1/2 trades a week on each, also futures - one is a currency, the other a metal and the third an index tracker). I moved to MALTA two years ago with my wife. We're in our early 50's.
- I spend about €150,000/year in our living expenses - initially we rented out a 3- bedroom flat at PORTOMASO MARINA (€4,000/mo) and now we bought one (€1.5M);
- My profits allow me to buy more than one of these flats every year. I don't. I save it;
- We keep a motor cruiser right at the marina and it takes less than 5 min to leave the flat and hop in. The boat costs €60,000/yr in diesel/berthing/maintenance/insurance, etc. We ride 150 hrs/year. Costs €400,000 and is 40- ft long;
- We ride the boat at least 3 times a week, one of which we go to Gozo and spend the night at the Kempinsky - another world class hotel with superb food, but there's plenty of superb restaurants every where;
- Every now and then we rent a sail yacht 50 to 60- ft and we go to Italy. Last summer we spent 3 weeks touring a few Greek islands in one;
- We have a 300 mb fiber optics connection which works superbly well. It is expensive, about €500/mo, but I have direct connections with a) the trading software server in the US and b) the data server also in the US (I use a separate software-data combo). also I download about 20,000 Gb/mo;
- Next to our apartment complex we have the world class HILTON with a superb health club and 3 pools, one of which is enormous and filled with salt water right next to the sea;
- At the apartment complex we have world class restaurants - Japanese, Italian, Brazilian, etc;
- Also next to the apartment complex we have a world class, expensive, exclusive shopping centre, at the PORTOMASO TOWER;
- Malta is super safe and people are very nice, nothing to do with the people form London or Paris or any other large city, especially German cities where people are also not nice at all. And I'm not surprised since everyone is running the rat race;
- We have branches of world class banks - British, German, Austrian,etc;
- Our airport has direct flights to most major European cities. We often go to Berlin for a night out at the Philarmonie, Paris for a Ballet at L'Opera Garnier, London to the Covent Garden and Royal Festival Hall or shopping in Madrid, Barcelona, etc;
- Don't have a car. Don't need one! In Psain,at the Jarama circuit you can "practice" in a racing car ... I did that ... but am not into cars at all, much prefer boats! My dad was a god yachtsman and I spent many days at sea with him. We had a variety of boats in South Africa - a sky boat, a small sail yacht and two dingies - Snipe and Flying Dutchman. so for me sailing is second nature almost!
- You can speak English all day long with almost every one. I now speak Italian. Lovely language!
- There's NO TAX on profits. NONE whatsoever. I can even own and be the managing director of a BVI IBC if I want to. You can own, benefit, control, etc, etc, foundations, trusts, ltd companies, etc anywhere in the offshore world. You can set up a foundation to be a vehicle for your retirement fund and receive payments tax free since those will be donations or loans.
MALTA is a lot cheaper than MONACO and offers all the same facilities, benefits at a fraction of the cost, about 1/10. I know I went there. Our flat in Malta costs at least €15M in Monaco and berthing is at least 5 times more, and so on.
If you want to know more about Malta ask me. Please don't ask me if your pension is taxed in Malta. I don't know. And don't want to know.
For visuals on where we live go here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ima...SHtZrLAhVDbj4KHb_PDFMQsAQIHA&biw=1021&bih=857
Right next to the Marina, the Hilton:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ima...w=1021&bih=857#tbm=isch&q=images+hilton+malta
I'm a citizen of Portugal, born in Mozambique (Portuguese East Africa), educated in South Africa (high school), university studies in Chicago (BA), New York (MA) and London (MBA, PgDip). Lived and worked in London for almost 20 years.
Best wishes.

 

[S+Rtrader]

I made a mistake when I wrote that my internet connection costs €500/mo. Left one zero out! My line costs €5,000/mo or €60,000/year. I have a dedicated symmetrical line (fibre optics) with ultra low latency and 24 hr technical support. It does work exceedingly well. Sorry about that!

 

[Pasternak]

Hi,
I have one question about Malta and taxes. If I'm a trader, ie doing a lot of trades, wouldn't the tax office consider it doing business from Malta even though no money is repatriated? Or can I just incorporate offshore?

 

[tar]

I made a mistake when I wrote that my internet connection costs €500/mo. Left one zero out! My line costs €5,000/mo or €60,000/year. I have a dedicated symmetrical line (fibre optics) with ultra low latency and 24 hr technical support. It does work exceedingly well. Sorry about that!

5k a month for internet connection?!

 

[counter_violent]

I'm a full time trader. My trading became systematic profitable 5 years ago. I was living in Europe, at a high tax jurisdiction, paying 30% tax on my trading profits. I day trade one European market (bond futures) and swing trade 3 other markets (1/2 trades a week on each, also futures - one is a currency, the other a metal and the third an index tracker). I moved to MALTA two years ago with my wife. We're in our early 50's.
- I spend about €150,000/year in our living expenses - initially we rented out a 3- bedroom flat at PORTOMASO MARINA (€4,000/mo) and now we bought one (€1.5M);
- My profits allow me to buy more than one of these flats every year. I don't. I save it;
- We keep a motor cruiser right at the marina and it takes less than 5 min to leave the flat and hop in. The boat costs €60,000/yr in diesel/berthing/maintenance/insurance, etc. We ride 150 hrs/year. Costs €400,000 and is 40- ft long;
- We ride the boat at least 3 times a week, one of which we go to Gozo and spend the night at the Kempinsky - another world class hotel with superb food, but there's plenty of superb restaurants every where;
- Every now and then we rent a sail yacht 50 to 60- ft and we go to Italy. Last summer we spent 3 weeks touring a few Greek islands in one;
- We have a 300 mb fiber optics connection which works superbly well. It is expensive, about €500/mo, but I have direct connections with a) the trading software server in the US and b) the data server also in the US (I use a separate software-data combo). also I download about 20,000 Gb/mo;
- Next to our apartment complex we have the world class HILTON with a superb health club and 3 pools, one of which is enormous and filled with salt water right next to the sea;
- At the apartment complex we have world class restaurants - Japanese, Italian, Brazilian, etc;
- Also next to the apartment complex we have a world class, expensive, exclusive shopping centre, at the PORTOMASO TOWER;
- Malta is super safe and people are very nice, nothing to do with the people form London or Paris or any other large city, especially German cities where people are also not nice at all. And I'm not surprised since everyone is running the rat race;
- We have branches of world class banks - British, German, Austrian,etc;
- Our airport has direct flights to most major European cities. We often go to Berlin for a night out at the Philarmonie, Paris for a Ballet at L'Opera Garnier, London to the Covent Garden and Royal Festival Hall or shopping in Madrid, Barcelona, etc;
- Don't have a car. Don't need one! In Psain,at the Jarama circuit you can "practice" in a racing car ... I did that ... but am not into cars at all, much prefer boats! My dad was a god yachtsman and I spent many days at sea with him. We had a variety of boats in South Africa - a sky boat, a small sail yacht and two dingies - Snipe and Flying Dutchman. so for me sailing is second nature almost!
- You can speak English all day long with almost every one. I now speak Italian. Lovely language!
- There's NO TAX on profits. NONE whatsoever. I can even own and be the managing director of a BVI IBC if I want to. You can own, benefit, control, etc, etc, foundations, trusts, ltd companies, etc anywhere in the offshore world. You can set up a foundation to be a vehicle for your retirement fund and receive payments tax free since those will be donations or loans.
MALTA is a lot cheaper than MONACO and offers all the same facilities, benefits at a fraction of the cost, about 1/10. I know I went there. Our flat in Malta costs at least €15M in Monaco and berthing is at least 5 times more, and so on.
If you want to know more about Malta ask me. Please don't ask me if your pension is taxed in Malta. I don't know. And don't want to know.
For visuals on where we live go here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ima...SHtZrLAhVDbj4KHb_PDFMQsAQIHA&biw=1021&bih=857
Right next to the Marina, the Hilton:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ima...w=1021&bih=857#tbm=isch&q=images+hilton+malta
I'm a citizen of Portugal, born in Mozambique (Portuguese East Africa), educated in South Africa (high school), university studies in Chicago (BA), New York (MA) and London (MBA, PgDip). Lived and worked in London for almost 20 years.
Best wishes.

Do you have photo's of your boat please?
Leave the boat name off for obvious reasons.

Great set up you have there.

 

[tar]

Sounds like a criminal banker from the city or a martingale trader/punter .

 

[Simonle]

I'm a full time trader.
[...]
- There's NO TAX on profits. NONE whatsoever.
[...]
If you want to know more about Malta ask me.

Thank you for your detailed post.
Could you please tell me what you can say to following post:

Dear Inland Revenue,
I understand that non-domiciled foreign holders of a permanent residency permit in Malta are taxable on a remittance basis only.
Question: Is trading income from trading US equities through a US broker considered foreign-sourced income?
Qualifications:
The exchanges, the securities, the broker and the gains are located abroad
The person doing the trading is located in Malta
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

I finally received the answer from the Malta Inland Revenue Department:
“Any trading income that is made while one is residing physically in Malta is considered as income arising in Malta and taxable in Malta.”