Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1177088
17.10.19 5 NEWS Where does Malta get its money from, and what does it spend it on? BUDGET 2020 Social Solidarity Ministry 16.93% Income tax 17.92% SURPLUS €114,000,000 Surplus €114 million IN NUMBERS President/Ombudsman/NAO/Standards Commissioner Parliament Economy Ministry Equality & European Affairs Ministry Foreign Ministry Gozo Ministry O�ce of the Prime Minister Energy Ministry Transport and Infrastructure Ministry Environment Ministry Tourism Ministry Justice, Culture and Local Government Interest on public debt Home Affairs Ministry Finance Ministry Education Ministry Health Ministry Capital investment Social Solidarity Ministry Income tax Social security VAT Non-tax revenue Licenses, taxes and �nes Customs and excise 0 600,000,000 1,200,000,000 1,800,000,000 2,400,000,000 € 10,360,000 € 10,443,000 € 24,292,000 € 25,301,000 € 34,737,000 € 48,271,000 € 73,388,000 € 97,077,000 € 101,671,000 € 106,730,000 € 123,213,000 € 151,422,000 € 183,472,000 € 185,576,000 € 261,213,000 € 648,334,000 € 702,024,000 € 734,937,000 € 1,829,291,000 € 1,936,000,000 € 1,149,000,000 € 1,099,000,000 € 497,354,000 € 420,253,000 € 350,140,000 Expenditure Income At almost €2 billion, Malta's social solidarity spend finances €600 million in pensions, and €867 in contributory and social benefits, which also includes children's allowance at €41.8 million Capital investment Expenditure on capital projects is forecast to top €735 million in 2020 with government continuing with its major electoral pledge to invest €100 million per year on road projects. e capital projects fund for Gozo is €19.2 million, including €500,000 allocated for the Marsalforn master plan. Health e health ministry has a wage bill of €309 million. Medicines and sur- gical materials will cost €129 million, almost €15 million more than 2019. e National Diabetes Strategy will benefit from €3.5 million, a sixfold increase on the budget for 2019. Education e childcare for all scheme will cost €25 million. Half-a-million will be spent on security systems in schools, while the University of Malta will get €82 million. Church schools will receive €95 million. Interest on public debt Interest payment on public debt will drop by around €10 million next year. Home affairs Expenditure on the army will reach €57 million, a slight increase over 2019. On the other hand, the police force will have a budget of €78 mil- lion, almost €10 million more. Gozo e Gozo ministry will see its budget increase by €4.4 million. A scheme to incentivise businesses in Gozo will get a tenfold increase in its budget next year with €1 million voted for it. e new Gozo Region- al Development Authority will get €200,000. Income tax Despite government foregoing €11.5 million in tax refunds to all those earning less than €60,000, and around €6 milwon on the new over- time arrangement, increased eco- nomic growth is expected to yield €141 million more from income tax in 2020. Social security National insurance contributions will yield €85 million more in 2020, as more people join the labour mar- ket. Customs and excise For the third budget running, the government has not increased excise taxes. However, increased economic activity is still expected to yield an additional €21.9 million. Licenses, taxes and fines Government revenue from licens- es is expected to increase by €17.7 million next year. VAT e general VAT rate remains unchanged at 18% but VAT on ed- ucational services will be removed. Government is projecting an in- crease of €89 million as consump- tion maintains its rhythm. Non-tax revenue Government is estimating an in- crease of €18 million in non-tax revenue next year. e bulk of this revenue is made up of grants to the tune of €208 million