How to Cease Your Tax Residency in Malta (2026 Guide)

Last reviewed: October 2026

Ending your tax residency in Malta is a matter of fact, not a form: you have to actually stop living in Malta, become resident somewhere else, and close your Maltese tax position cleanly. This guide explains the tests the Commissioner for Revenue (CfR) applies, what stays taxable after you leave, and the step-by-step process location-independent professionals should follow in 2026.

Key figures for leaving Malta (2026)

When do you stop being a tax resident in Malta?

Malta's Income Tax Act (Chapter 123) taxes individuals according to two concepts: ordinary residence and domicile.

• Domiciled and ordinarily resident individuals are taxed on worldwide income and gains.
• Ordinarily resident but non-domiciled individuals (most foreigners living in Malta) are taxed on Maltese-source income and on foreign income remitted to Malta. Foreign capital gains are not taxed even if remitted.
• Non-residents are taxed only on income and gains arising in Malta.

Malta has very few statutory residence rules: the Income Tax Act only provides that someone in Malta for a temporary purpose, without intending to settle, is not resident unless their stays add up to more than six months in the year. According to PwC's Malta summary, a person is ordinarily resident when living in Malta is part of their usual, regular way of life. There is no deregistration certificate that "switches off" residence. You stop being resident when the facts change: you no longer have your habitual home in Malta, your spouse and children (if any) have moved, your work is carried out elsewhere, and your life is centred in another country.

Day counts still matter. Spending more than 183 days in Malta in a calendar year is the practical benchmark most advisers and the CfR use, and it is the threshold in most of Malta's double tax treaties. But the reverse is not automatic: spending 150 days in Malta while keeping your apartment, your car and your Maltese employment contract will usually keep you resident.

What about domicile?

Domicile is where you have your permanent home in the long term. Most foreign nationals in Malta are non-domiciled and never acquire a Maltese domicile. If you are Maltese-born, leaving the country does not automatically change your domicile – but once you are no longer ordinarily resident, the worldwide basis stops applying in practice, because Malta taxes non-residents only on Maltese-source income.

What stays taxable in Malta after you leave?

Becoming non-resident narrows Malta's taxing rights; it does not end them. After your departure, Malta can still tax:

1. Maltese employment income for work physically performed in Malta.
2. Rental income from Maltese property.
3. Maltese immovable property sales. Transfers of Maltese property are generally subject to a final withholding tax of 8% of the transfer value, or 10% if the property was acquired before 1 January 2004.
4. Gains on Maltese company shares, subject to exemptions.

Some income is exempt for non-residents, subject to conditions: interest, royalties and gains from specified sources such as units in collective investment schemes and certain shares or securities. Shares listed on the Malta Stock Exchange are also exempt on transfer.

Example. A software consultant who lived in Malta from 2021 to mid-2026 moves to Portugal in July 2026 and rents out her Sliema flat. From the date she leaves, her Portuguese clients' fees are no longer within Malta's scope, but the Sliema rent stays taxable in Malta. If she sells the flat in 2028, Malta still collects the 8% final tax on the sale price, and Portugal will apply its own rules under the Malta–Portugal treaty.

Is there an exit tax for individuals?

No. Malta does not impose a deemed-disposal exit tax on individuals who emigrate. Your foreign portfolio, crypto or company shares are not taxed simply because you leave. Note that EU anti-avoidance rules require exit taxation when a company transfers assets or its tax residence out of Malta, so founders who also move a Maltese company should review that separately.

How to cease your Maltese tax residency: step by step

1. Fix your departure date and document it. Keep the flight booking, the end of your Maltese lease or sale deed, and your new foreign lease. The date you physically relocate is the reference point for both countries.
2. Become resident in your new country. Register with the local population register and tax authority (for example a tax number in Portugal, Anmeldung in Germany, or residence in the UAE) and obtain a tax residency certificate there once eligible. Malta generally needs to see that your life is now centred elsewhere.
3. Inform the CfR and your employer. Update your address and status with the Commissioner for Revenue, and make sure your employer stops FSS withholding from your last payroll date. Keep a copy of your final FS3 (annual statement of earnings).
4. Settle provisional tax. If you are self-employed, provisional tax is paid in three instalments (20%, 30% and 50%) based on your last assessment. Check whether instalments falling after your departure are still due on the reduced Maltese income.
5. File your final return. The return for the departure year is due by the end of June of the following year; tax still due must be paid when you file. Interest of 0.6% per month runs on tax unpaid from 31 August.
6. Review residence permits and programmes. If you held a Global Residence Programme status, a Nomad Residence Permit or a long-term permit, notify Identità and check whether the permit should be surrendered. Some programmes carry a minimum annual tax that applies as long as the status is held.
7. Update banks and investment platforms. Give your new tax residence and tax identification number to your Maltese and foreign banks so that CRS reporting goes to the correct country.
8. Keep records for several years. If the CfR or your new tax authority questions your status, contemporaneous evidence is what settles the matter.

Non-doms, the EUR 5,000 minimum tax and the year of departure

Many location-independent professionals chose Malta for the remittance basis: as ordinarily resident non-domiciled individuals, they were taxed only on Maltese income and foreign income brought into Malta.

Non-doms who derive at least EUR 35,000 of foreign income (together with a spouse, if married) that is not fully received in Malta pay a minimum tax of EUR 5,000 per year, unless they fall under another minimum-tax regime. The test looks at foreign income of the preceding calendar year. If you are still ordinarily resident for part of the year you leave, discuss with an adviser whether the minimum tax applies to that final year.

Double tax treaties and tie-breaker rules

If, during the year of departure, both Malta and your new country consider you resident, the relevant double tax treaty decides. Most of Malta's treaties follow the OECD model tie-breaker sequence:

1. Permanent home available to you.
2. Centre of vital interests – where your personal and economic relations are closer.
3. Habitual abode – where you actually spend more time.
4. Nationality.
5. Mutual agreement between the two authorities.

Keeping your Maltese flat "just in case" is the most common reason a move fails the tie-breaker. If you want to keep it, consider letting it on a long-term lease so it is no longer available to you.

Malta also grants unilateral relief (a credit for foreign tax) where no treaty applies, but relief only prevents double taxation; it does not end Maltese residence.

Remote workers: permanent-establishment and requalification risk

Leaving Malta while keeping a Maltese company is common among founders. Two risks need to be managed:

• Management and control. A Maltese company is resident in Malta by incorporation, but if you now run it from Lisbon or Dubai, your new country may argue that the company is effectively managed there and tax its profits.
• Permanent establishment. Regularly concluding contracts from your new home for the Maltese company can create a permanent establishment abroad.

The safest approach is to align the company's substance, directors and board meetings with where decisions are actually taken, or to restructure before moving.

Frequently asked questions

How do I stop being a tax resident in Malta?

You stop being taxed as a Maltese resident when you no longer live in Malta as part of your regular way of life: you move your home, family and day-to-day activity abroad and become resident elsewhere. There is no single deregistration form that ends residence on its own, so keep evidence of the move (new lease, foreign registration, travel records) and file your final Maltese return for the year you leave.

Is there a 183-day rule in Malta?

Maltese law does not set a statutory day-count test for individuals; residence and 'ordinary residence' are questions of fact. In practice, spending more than 183 days in Malta in a calendar year is commonly treated as a strong indicator of residence, and 183 days also appears in most of Malta's tax treaties. Staying under 183 days does not by itself make you non-resident if your home and life remain in Malta.

Does Malta have an exit tax when I leave?

Malta does not levy a general exit tax on individuals who emigrate, so leaving does not trigger a deemed sale of your shares or investments. What continues is Maltese tax on Maltese-source income and gains, for example rent from a Maltese apartment or the 8%/10% final tax on a later sale of Maltese property. Companies moving assets out of Malta are a separate matter and can face exit taxation.

Do I have to file a Maltese tax return in the year I leave?

Yes, if you had income chargeable in Malta for that year. Returns follow the calendar year and are due by the end of June of the following year, with any balance payable on submission. Unpaid tax from 31 August onwards accrues interest at 0.6% per month. Employees fully covered by the FSS withholding system may receive a pre-computed statement instead of filing a full return.

Can I keep a Maltese bank account or property after leaving?

Yes. Keeping a bank account or property does not on its own make you Maltese resident, but a home that stays available to you is one of the facts an authority or treaty tie-breaker will weigh. As a non-resident you are taxed only on Maltese-source income and gains; bank interest and some securities gains paid to non-residents are exempt, subject to conditions.

Related guides

• Personal income tax in Malta: rates and bands
• Capital gains taxation in Malta
• How to cease your tax residency in Portugal
• How to cease your tax residency in Cyprus
• Corporate income tax in Malta

Sources

• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – Malta, Individual: Residence
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – Malta, Individual: Taxes on personal income
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – Malta, Individual: Income determination
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – Malta, Individual: Tax administration
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – Malta, Individual: Foreign tax relief and tax treaties

This article is general information, not personalised tax advice. Residence depends on your full set of facts.

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