Audit, tax and advisory firm Mazars in Malta has engaged the services of Joseph Sammut as senior VAT adviser.

Apart from providing advice related to VAT issues, Sammut will be providing the firm’s employees with in-house training on VAT, mentoring and updates on VAT topics. He will also be assisting the firm’s VAT team with identifying risks in the handling of VAT matters.

Sammut served for 44 years in the Malta Public Service. He started his tax career in 1989 at the Inland Revenue Department. In 2002, he moved to the VAT Department and was appointed director operations VAT, at a time when Malta was joining the EU and had to implement the VAT directive.

Between 2005 and 2012, Sammut occupied the position of director general and commissioner of VAT. Prior to joining Mazars in Malta, he served as VAT technical adviser. He has been a member of the Malta Institute of Taxation since 2004.

For 18 years, Sammut was head of the Maltese delegation for the working party on tax questions on VAT in the EU Council. He was actively involved in meetings in Brussels dealing with changes in the VAT directive and with various VAT council regulations. During Malta’s presidency of the Council in 2017, he presided over the meetings of this group. He also participated in the EU Commission Group for the Future of VAT and in various Fiscalis seminars on VAT technical subjects.

Mazars in Malta managing partner Anthony Attard said: “The growth we are experiencing as a firm, including in the area of taxation, prompts the need to further invest in various specialised service areas, such as that of VAT.

“The engagement of a VAT expert of Joseph’s stature ensures that we can tap into his extensive knowledge, while also facilitating our staff members’ expansion of their own knowledge in taxation. This will allow us to continue delivering customised solutions which address clients’ challenges in a bespoke manner, through the input of a dedicated team of experts, combining both local market knowledge and global technical advice.”

For more information, visit www.mazars.com.mt.