Country overview

#29

Malta

Country stats

Rating Points

310

This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.

Crypto Penetration

4.1%

Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Legal Entities

Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.

Regulation Points

180

An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.

Amount of crypto users

20 500

Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Taxation points

This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.

Market volume points

7.4

A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.

Status of crypto

Legally allowed

General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.

Crypto payments

Legally allowed

The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Security Level

Minor danger

The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.

Crypto Salaries

Legally allowed

The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Business Climate

Good

Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.

Stablecoin Regulation

Basic

This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.

Bad Factors

This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.

Types of licenses

Crypto-to-crypto

This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.

Crypto-to-fiat

This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.

Wallet/Custody

This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - - crypto wallet providers and custodians.

Cryptofund

This indicator means that investment funds, trusts, and crypto funds can get regulator approval to provide their activity in the country.

Good

Medium

Bad

intro

Malta has been famous for its loyal regulation of crypto entities since 2017. It’s one of the EU's first countries to regulate crypto assets.

Security level

Malta has a Minor danger security level according to our rating. Jurisdiction has 60.0 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (1). The homicide level (2) is 0.4 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

According to the Malta Inland Revenue Department (IRD) tax guide (3), crypto payments are legal in the country.

When a payment is made or received in a cryptocurrency, it is treated like a payment in any other currency for income tax purposes. Accordingly, for businesses which accept payment for goods or services in cryptocurrency, there is no change to when revenue is recognised or the manner in which taxable profits are calculated.

Crypto Salaries

IRD tax guide (4) also mentions that crypto salaries/wages are taxable as wages in any other currency.

The same applies to payments of remuneration, such as salaries or wages, and therefore such should be regarded as taxable in terms of the general principles.

Legal

Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) (5) and Commissioner for Revenue (6) regulate virtual assets in Malta. You can check the latest updates from the regulator on their website (7).

License	Regulator	Type of Activity
VFA Class 1 license	MFSA	Investment advice
VFA Class 2 license	MFSA	Wallet provider
VFA Class 3 license	MFSA	P2P
VFA Class 4 license	MFSA	Exchange

According to the MFSA (7¹) site in 2023, there were a total of 40 companies registered in the VFA Framework. VFA Agents - 20, Whitepaper - 5, VFA Service Provider - 15. At the end of 2024 amount of VFA provider increased up to 18. As for MiCA implementation Maltese legislators have approved special law with No. 107 - "Markets in Crypto Assets Bill". New regulations include greater fees for CASP registration - from €5,000 up to €10,000 and annual supervisory fee €10,000. The transition period for already registered VASPs is 19 months - up to July 2026.

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	3
PIT tax Max	35
Corporate tax (CIT)	35
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	35
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0

Taxation of DLT assets in Malta is regulated by local tax authorities CfR (Commissioner for Revenue). Its website has a detailed guide (8) about DLT's income taxation. Also, there is CfR guide (9) about duty taxation.

An important fact (10) about individual income is that individuals who are “resident in Malta but not domiciled in Malta are taxable only on income arising in Malta and on any foreign income remitted to Malta.”

PIT

According to PWC (11), Malta has a 35% PIT rate on income higher than 9509 EUR. This rate applies to all crypto-related personal income (salaries, mining, staking, etc.)

CGT

Long-term crypto profits have(12) a 15% tax rate and short-term implied to ordinary income tax.

CIT

Companies are subject to income tax at a flat rate of 35%. There is no corporate tax structure separate from income tax.

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3, 4, and 8)GUIDELINES on the Income Tax Treatment of transactions or arrangements. PDF-file

5 and 7)Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Supporting innovation and new technologies for financial services in the area of crypto-assets.

6)Commissioner for Revenue

7¹)Financial Services Register

9)GUIDELINES for the Duty on Documents & Transfers Act. PDF-file

10 and 11)Malta. Individual - Taxes on personal income. PWC

12)Taxation of Individuals. PDF-file

Last update: November 2024

Articles

research

Crypto Entities Overview: UAE

United Arab Emirates is one of the most cryptofriendly jurisdictions in the world. In this research we set up all licensed crypto entities operating in the country

review

Indonesia, Turkiye, Nigeria and Other Emerging Crypto Markets in 2024

Asia and Africa are the most perspective crypto markets by amount of users, and we review crypto legislation in key countries in these regions.

research

Global Crypto Card Overview

Selecting good crypto card is important topic for every crypto user. In this research we’ve collected most existing crypto cards in the world

intro

Malta has been famous for its loyal regulation of crypto entities since 2017. It’s one of the EU's first countries to regulate crypto assets.

Security level

Crypto Payments

According to the Malta Inland Revenue Department (IRD) tax guide (3), crypto payments are legal in the country.

Crypto Salaries

IRD tax guide (4) also mentions that crypto salaries/wages are taxable as wages in any other currency.

The same applies to payments of remuneration, such as salaries or wages, and therefore such should be regarded as taxable in terms of the general principles.

Legal

Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) (5) and Commissioner for Revenue (6) regulate virtual assets in Malta. You can check the latest updates from the regulator on their website (7).

License	Regulator	Type of Activity
VFA Class 1 license	MFSA	Investment advice
VFA Class 2 license	MFSA	Wallet provider
VFA Class 3 license	MFSA	P2P
VFA Class 4 license	MFSA	Exchange

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	3
PIT tax Max	35
Corporate tax (CIT)	35
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	35
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0

PIT

According to PWC (11), Malta has a 35% PIT rate on income higher than 9509 EUR. This rate applies to all crypto-related personal income (salaries, mining, staking, etc.)

CGT

Long-term crypto profits have(12) a 15% tax rate and short-term implied to ordinary income tax.

CIT

Companies are subject to income tax at a flat rate of 35%. There is no corporate tax structure separate from income tax.

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3, 4, and 8)GUIDELINES on the Income Tax Treatment of transactions or arrangements. PDF-file

5 and 7)Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Supporting innovation and new technologies for financial services in the area of crypto-assets.

6)Commissioner for Revenue

7¹)Financial Services Register

9)GUIDELINES for the Duty on Documents & Transfers Act. PDF-file

10 and 11)Malta. Individual - Taxes on personal income. PWC

12)Taxation of Individuals. PDF-file

Last update: November 2024