Economy
- No new taxes for the fifth consecutive year
- Additional cost-of-living increases for low-income families
- Tax refund cheques increased to between €60 and €140, with the highest amounts being paid out to people in lower income brackets
- Budget deficit to be halved to 5.6% next year as economic recovery picks up after the COVID-19 pandemic blow
- Tax arrears crackdown from June 1 2022 with pledge to end regular amnesties on penalties and interest on unpaid tax increased to 7.2%
The cost-of-living allowance has been set at €1.75 for next year. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier.
Workers
- Part-time tax rate reduced from 15% to 10%
- €150 benefit for employees earning less than €20,000 and working unsociable hours
- Workers in non-managerial positions with an income less than €20,000 will be taxed 15% on the first €10,000 they make from overtime pay
- A cost-of-living wage raise of €1.75 per week
- Part-time workers can pay social security contributions on more than one job up to 40 hours a week of employment
- Tax refund cheques will increase from a range of betweem €45 and €95, to a range of between €60 to €140
Part-time workers will benefit from a reduced tax rate of 10%, down from 15%. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier.
Property
- No capital gains tax or stamp duty on the purchase of properties that are more than 20 years old and have been vacant for seven years or more, as well as properties in UCAs or built in the 'traditional style'.
- First-time buyers of such properties will also receive a grant of €15,000. That grant doubles to €30,000 for properties bought in Gozo
- People who renovate these properties will get a refund of VAT up to €54,000 on the first €300,000 spent on renovation works
- Existing schemes for first-time and second-time buyers and those buying a property in Gozo will be extended for another year
- Rent subsidies for businesses extended
- Tax due on the first €200,000 of the value of properties bought or sold and rented for at least 10 years to tenants eligible for the rent benefit given by the Housing Authority will be halved
- Schemes to help home ownership for the disadvantaged extended as well as €300,000 to church's Foundation for Affordable Housing
- Pre-1995 rent housing valued at up to €250,000 that needs structural repairs will be eligible for subsidies of up to €25,000
- Tax benefits for private property rented out as affordable housing
Old properties bought in urban conservation areas will benefit from a raft of tax exemptions. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.
Transport
- Free public transport for all from October 1 2022
- Maximum grants on electric vehicles increased from €9,000 to €12,000
- A five-year exemption on license fees for electric vehicles has been extended
- Electric vehicles will remain exempt from registration tax
- 1,200 charging points for electric vehicles to be installed in next three years
- A grant of up to €900 for minibuses, coaches and trucks that install photovoltaic panels
- VAT refunds for bicycles and electric bikes continue
Fancy a ride? Buses will be free for all Tal-Linja card holders as of next year. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier.
Parents
- Free childcare services will be extended to evenings and weekends for people working shifts
- Threshold for in-work benefits paid to parents who have children under the age of 23 raised for couples who both work to €50,000, up from the previous €35,000.
- For couples where only one of the parents is employed, the threshold is raised from €26,000 to €35,000, while the threshold for single parents is raised from €23,000 to €35,000 per annum.
- A grant given to new parents that currently stands at €300 will be increased to €400.
- Parents-to-be to receive starter kit with 'sustainable products' for newborn
Free childcare services will be extended to evenings and weekends on a shift basis. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.
Pensions
- Senior citizens will see their pensions increase for a seventh year in a row and will receive an extra €260 a year or €5 a week. Of that €1.75 is the increase for the cost of living and €3.25 is the additional increase
- The supplementary allowance for married pensioners who do not earn more than €14,318 will be increased. They will receive between €3.47 and €6.50 a week, depending on their income
- Single pensioners, including widows and widowers, whose income does not surpass €10,221 will receive between €4.10 and €5 per week
- The taxable ceiling on pensions is being raised to €14,318
- Service pensions will be increased by €200 which will not be considered in the assessment of the social security pension
- An increase of €150 in the annual bonus will be given to people who have reached retirement age but do not qualify for the pension because they did not have enough contributions
- Income earned by working pensioners will not be subject to tax in five years' time
- Promise of legislation to raise limit on inherited capital from €23,000 to €50,000 for couples and from €14,000 to €30,000 for single people
- Monetary donations made by pensioners to children up to €20,000 and donating property's air space excluded from capital wealth calculations
Pensions have seen increases across the board. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier.
Energy
- Revisions to the way ARMS bill are calculated to prevent ‘surprises’
- A new €11 million reverse osmosis plant in Gozo to become operational
- 'Heavy' investment in Enemalta's distribution network promised
- Work on second interconnector and gas pipeline to continue
Clyde Caruana has promised to put an end to people receiving nasty surprises on their energy bills.
Students
- Stipends to be increased by 10%;
- Students can work for up to 25 hours per week without losing their stipend entitlement.
- Investment in more apprenticeship placements in private sector
- School principals to receive €10,000 each to spend on food and basic needs for disadvantaged pupils
Students will get an increase in the stipend that helps them pay for third-level education. Photo: Jonathan Borg
Environment
- Marsascala is set to get a woodland “bigger than Buskett”, with 40,000 indigenous trees to be planted at the Inwadar national park
- San Anton Gardens to be restored
- Feasibility studies on turning Triq Sant Anna in Floriana into a pedestrian zone and garden
- Restoration projects at the family park in Bengħajsa, the Marsascala family park as well as Ġnien Kottoner and San Klement park in Żabbar
- The Pace Grasso stadium in Paola will be transformed into a 12,000 square metre community open space, where 165 trees, 2,500 shrubs and 1,500 ornamental plants wills be planted
- Roofing over of regional road at Santa Venera to be carried forward under public-private partnership
- Ta'Qali national park to have more than 60 football pitches' worth of open space, 60,000 trees and 86,000 square metres of 'landscaping'
- Plans for carbon trading scheme for public and private entities
- €10m to rebuild 30km of rubble walls across Gozo
- Rehabilitation plans for Comino, Victoria Lines, Għadira s-Safra wetland
- Schemes to encourage purchase of solar panels, water heaters, heat pumps extended
- Repair centre promised where people can get damaged goods repaired
- Begin restoration of aqueducts in Victoria, Gozo
Neglected no more: San Anton is set to benefit from a restoration project as part of the 2022 budget.
Health
- Medicines for cancer, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, circulatory conditions, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, IVF patients and certain rare and extreme allergies will all be added to the list of medicines distributed by the government
- Senior citizens aged 80 and over who are eligible for a supplementary allowance will as of next year be eligible for free medicines
- Glucose monitoring programme to be extended to 17-21 year-olds
- Plan to develop a new blood bank and facility for stem cell processing and storage
- Extra space to be rented to give Mater Dei patients more acute and elective services
Industry
- A €470 million investment in the modernisation of various industrial zones and the creation of new ones that do not take up ODZ land
- Extensive roads programme will be continued, but no new infrastructure projects will take place
- Works will continue on the airport road traffic intersection project and Mrieħel bypass, including “extensive tree-planting”
- Work to 'regenerate' Grand Harbour
Industrial zones are set for a major overhaul. Photo: Indis Malta.
Disability
- Allowances for children with a physical or mental disability will rise by €5 a week
- Grant for parents who quit work to take care of a disabled child over the age of 16 will be raised from €300 to €500
- The carer at home benefit is also to increase from €6,000 to €7,000
- The subsidy rate for the ‘Home Helper of Your Choice’ scheme to increase from €5.50 per hour to €7 per hour
- Severe disability benefits no longer subject to means testing
- Investment in autism units, Braille machines and occupational therapy in schools
- Community hub for disabled and 'drive from wheelchair' vehicle to teach those with diabilities how to drive
Arts and culture
- Artists will be taxed at 7.5% from next year
- A €1 million guarantee fund will be set up for artistic events so that producers and promoters can recover their costs when unexpected restrictions are introduced
- A further €2 million are being set aside to be used when seats cannot be sold because of restrictions
Performers at theatres like Valletta's opera house could find their pay goes further. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli
Business
- Pledge to attract start-ups to Malta by offering 'start-up visa'
- Anyone passing on family business to relative will pay 1.5% stamp duty, down from 5%
Tourism
- Xewkija heliport to be upgraded
- New agency to regenerate tourist zones, focusing on St Paul's Bay, Buġibba, Qawra and Xemxija.
Farmers
- New Water project to provide recycled sewage water to farmers extended
- Grant of up to €8,000 if farmers turn untilled agricultural land into orchards of fruit trees
- Incentives planned to encouage more organic farming
Farmers will be given grants to provide fruit trees. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina
Sport
- New football ground in Msida
- Work on waterpolo pitches in Marsascala, Valletta, Marsaxlokk
- Rowing tank to encourage local rowers to be developed
- Plans to build outdoor velodrome in Ta' Qali national park