Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1006805
MATTHEW VELLA THE Labour Party undervalued the disputed land and property occupied by the historic Australia Hall in Pem- broke by millions, and has been called upon by the Inland Revenue Depart- ment to pay up thousands in capital gains tax. The PL is now opposing the tax charge by the Commissioner for Tax, who first said the Australia Hall land was worth nothing less than €5.5 mil- lion – merely months after the party sold the land – and then revised the value downwards to €2,025,000. But Labour sold the land to A.H. Development, a company owned by shareholders in the Fino furniture company, for just €582,000 in 2014, claiming it had also settled an un- specified amount of debt with the buyers. The party is now opposing the tax assessment in court, after it was told to pay an additional €14,426 in capital gains tax over and above the €23,296 first incurred on the original selling price. The party is also claiming it is ex- empt from paying capital gains tax, since political parties do not pay in- come tax – a claim that is being op- posed by the Commissioner for Tax, who has told a court that nobody is exempt from capital gains tax. Newspaper post YOUR FIRST READ AND CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT #WeAreOrange Follow our story www.expressgroup.com Express Group Malta | Velbro House, Qormi Road, Luqa LQA 9040, Malta Tel: (+356) 2124 2311 | info@expressgroup.com How much more efficient would you be if you could focus on doing business rather than managing inventories, storage and deliveries? So much capital and human effort is actually locked up in inventory management. You Don't Need a Warehouse SPEAK TO US PAGE 3 • Labour refusing to pay capital gains tax on €2 million Pembroke land it sold at just €580,000 • Originally, land was valued at €5.5 million by Inland Revenue Department before Labour protested valuation 2 maltatoday today today SUNDAY • 22 JULY 2018 • ISSUE 976 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY 1.95 CLARE AZZOPARDI Life's lessons, challenges, and dreams in the MaltaToday Q&A In MaltaToday 2 Edward Scicluna versus... Brussels? Challenging the fi nance minister on the EBA fi ndings on the FIAU INTERVIEW 16-17 INQUIRY CONCLUDED, NATION AWAITS FULL PUBLICATION 'The biggest lie in Maltese political history' - so claimed Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in his 21 April 2017 press conference after announcing he had requested a magisterial investigation on the Egrant allegation published by Daphne Caruana Galizia Inquiry upon which Muscat staked his career is now with Attorney General THE magistrate investigating claims that the Prime Min- ister's wife is the owner of a secret offshore company in Panama, has concluded his inquiry and handed his find- ings to the Attorney General. Magistrate Aaron Bugeja finalised his inquiry on Fri- day evening, 15 months after launching the inquiry follow- ing a complaint by the law- yers of Joseph Muscat to the Commissioner of Police. A press conference could be expected today for the pres- entation of the findings of the inquiry, upon which Joseph Muscat had staked his politi- cal career, having dubbed the Egrant allegation "the big- gest lie in Maltese political history". Taxman says Labour under- valued sale of Australia Hall exempt from capital PAGE 2 Magistrate fi nalises Egrant inquiry HISTORY OF THE SLIEMA ROCK POOLS Will the private baths of Victorian tourists survive? PAGES 14-15