An administrative issue involving a missing VAT return – which has since been settled - has landed a magistrate in the prosecution’s list for a VAT court sitting. 

Magistrate Monica Vella failed to submit a VAT return for work carried out before she was appointed magistrate, sparking an administrative investigation.

The case was first reported by Lovin Malta, who reported that Vella had been arraigned. 

However, Times of Malta is informed that she was due to be charged with the minor offence on July 23 before magistrate Joe Mifsud but that did not happen as police had not yet notified her of the charges. 

The case was put off to October, the next scheduled VAT sitting.

However, sources close to the tax authorities have confirmed that the magistrate has since filed the missing document and has settled pending issues with the taxman.

Magistrate Vella was appointed to the bench in May 2015 after having been Labour’s mayor of Xewkija for 11 years and later Commissioner for Justice in a local tribunal.

She began practising law in 1998 and had served as a judicial assistant in the superior courts between 2009 and her appointment.

Sources said the magistrate should have settled her VAT issues when she was appointed to the bench. 

Administrative issue

Legal sources said that such issues are normally settled administratively, with charges issued against those who fail to regularise their position after numerous attempts.

In most cases, the issue is settled before reaching court and the prosecution simply withdraws the charges.

"This is a relatively minor issue that should have been addressed without the police getting involved," a tax department source privy to details of the case said.

Malta has vowed to step up its tax collection efforts in recent months after being the Financial Action Task Force flagged lax enforcement of financial crime laws as a key factor in its decision to greylist the country.    

In March, Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti reassigned all of Magistrate Vella’s criminal and civil cases in the Gozo court, with sources saying this was down to slow throughput of work.

Magistrate Vella had been assigned the bulk of cases that were pending when Magistrate Paul Coppini retired in October 2019. Some of his other cases were assigned to Magistrate Simone Grech.