Malta is a tiny nation in the Mediterranean Sea, positioned between Europe and Africa. It has over 5000 years of history and culture at its roots. Malta is also a good place for business with great weather for the whole year.

Firstly, if you want to open company in Malta you need to have at least two shareholders.

Secondly, if you are going to register a limited liability company, then you need to prefer for the memorandum and articles of association. You could prepare these yourself, if you have the experience, you can ask for the assistance and clues of local accountants or lawyers, especially if you are set up company in Malta for the first time. These documents are important for the registration, and also for what the company, its shareholders and its directors can do and can not do.

Thirdly, you need to present the filled in company form, memorandum, articles of association and the share capital deposit slip to the Malta Financial Services Authority, who controls all locally registered companies. Registration is done within 2 to 3 days, there is registration fee to be paid, depending on the size of the company. The MFSA offers detailed information about registration procedure.

It is a legal need that business in Malta has a tax identification number. You can find the form online. There are no fees to be paid, however you will need to fill in a tax return form once a year and this depends on whether you are a limited liability company or a self-employed person. In your first year of your company in Malta, it is necessary to have a support of a accountant or a lawyer.

Another need to start Malta company is registering with the VAT department. When doing this there are 3 important points that you needn’t of remember. If you are expecting annually turnover of not more than €7,000, then you are not obliged to register or change VAT. For a business that foresees a turnover between €7,001 to between €14,000 and €35,000, depending on a business, registration is optional. For turnover values above that amount, VAT would need to be charged.  More information about VAT can be found on this website. Obtaining a VAT number is free and the process is very quick.