The government collected €245 million in taxes from the rental market over seven years, information tabled in parliament shows. 

Flagging the figures on Monday, the Malta Developers Association said the system was introduced following the association's proposal to do so. Before that, the government collected very little from rents, it claimed.

Back in 2014, the tax on rented properties was reduced from 35 per cent to 15 per cent. The measure was introduced to encourage landlords to declare the income they made from rented properties.

The tax applies to both residential and commercial property.

The information was tabled in parliament last week by Finance minister Clyde Caruana following a parliamentary question by MP Anthony Agius Decelis. 

In 2014, the government collected €5.7 million in rent taxation, which jumped to €9.3 million the following year.

In 2016, a total of €28.2 million was collected in rent taxation, which followed a rise to €37.3 million in 2017.

In 2020 a total of €29.1 million was paid manually, while €15 million was paid online for residential leases and €13 million for commercial property. In all, €57.3 million was collected by the government that year. 

MDA said both the government and citizens gained from such tax collection.

“In total, €245 million was collected over seven years in taxes from the rental market which were certainly well used for social projects such as an increase in pensions and infrastructure.”