Adrian Delia has filed his income tax return for 2018, one year after the deadline to declare his earnings to the tax authorities for that year.
Delia has a long history of failing to declare his full income to Inland Revenue.
In 2018, the tax authorities agreed on an €81,000 settlement with the PN and opposition leader for unpaid taxes.
The 2018 tax return was filed this month as Delia was preparing to submit financial information to a PN commission tasked with carrying out a due diligence exercise on the prospective leadership candidates.
A summary of the 2018 tax return obtained by Times of Malta through parliament shows he declared a gross salary as opposition leader of €48,000. Delia did not declare any income from professional earnings.
His gross earnings from capital gains stood at €227,581, income derived from the sale of shares in his legal practice and consultancy business.
It is unclear how he continued to fund his lifestyle last year given his only known income was from his salary
Delia faced expenses in the form of loans, overdrafts, credit card bills and other payments of at least €311,463 in 2018.
It is unclear how he continued to fund his lifestyle last year given his only known income that year was via his salary as opposition leader.
Delia has declared in financial filings to parliament that he had no money deposited in banks at the end of 2017, 2018 and 2019.
An inquiry into whether murder suspect Yorgen Fenech secretly channelled funds to the PN leader in a bid to scupper MEP David Casa’s 2019 re-election campaign is ongoing.
Delia vehemently denies the claim.
Both he and Bernard Grech must undergo a due diligence process by the Nationalist Party as part of the leadership race.
The internal commission leading the due diligence process said on Friday it would not be issuing declarations on whether the two leadership contenders have satisfied the minimum criteria to be eligible to contest.
Once the due diligence report is concluded, it will be passed on to the PN’s administrative council and its electoral commission.
The due diligence commission said the whole purpose was to provide the electoral commission and administrative council with a resumé about the two persons who have expressed an interest in this contest.
That report, or extracts from it, could then be communicated to the party members.