Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523932
MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt 9 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JULY 2024 JobsPlus Permit Number: 548/2024 The Authority for integrity in Maltese Sports is looking for an Executive (Administration). The applicant is expected to be analytical, curious and shall have a general interest in sports. The role includes general office duties which includes procurement, purchasing and general office duties. The candidate shall be in possession of MQF Level 5 qualification (a sport qualification would be considered an asset). Furthermore, applicants shall be in possession of four (4) subjects at Ordinary Level (which must include the English Language). Applicants are expected to be able to communicate in both Maltese and English. The ideal candidate shall be IT knowledgeable, especially s/he shall know how to navigate on procurement and travel and shall be prepared to work under pressure. Interested applicants are invited to send their application via email. The application shall include a covering letter, a CV and a recent police conduct. Applications will be accepted until the 16 th of July 2024 at noon. Applications including the above-mentioned documents are to be sent to the following address: ryan.c.borg@aims.org.mt THE Maltese-owned franchise of Italian fashion stores, Melite Retail, will de-list its €9,250,000 bonds – issued back in 2018 – in the wake of an unfortunate saga that saw COVID shut down its stores and re- cently, its main tenant defaulting on rental payments. Alf Mizzi & Sons, holder of 40.3% in Melite Retail, will forward the company's finance vehicle Melite Fi- nance plc a €9,250,000 loan to fully repurchase the outstanding bonds for eventual cancellation. A bondholders' meeting will be held on 23 July to obtain approval from bondholders and take accept- ances for the buy-back by bondholders holding in ag- gregate at least 95% of the nominal value of the bonds in issue. In February 2024, Melite's Italian subsidiary, Melite Properties Srl, terminated its rental agreements with third-party tenant Giadea, for not settling rent pay- ments for January 2024 on 10 stores across Italy it had leased. Melite Properties holds the lease and rental agree- ments for a portfolio of fashion stores for the Acces- sorize, Calvin Klein Underwear, and the 3INA Cos- metics brands in Bologna, Bolzano, Como, Firenze, Genova, Milan, Padova, Pavia, Torino, Treviso, and Verona. Melite Finance's buyback is still being offered at par despite the bonds having traded below par since 2020. Melite Retail will pledge all ordinary shares in Melite Finance in favour of Alf Mizzi & Sons, as se- curity. Melite Retail's shareholders Michael Soler of Day- star Holdings (7.43%) and MMGH (9.7%) will offer guarantees, by way of 7.6% and 9.7% respectively, of any eventual shortfall in the loan repayment. Share- holders Andrew Ganado Limited (21.65%) and re- lated company GAN (9.11%) will also commit funds receivable from existing loans to Melite Properties, as a guarantee to Alf Mizzi for the loan, at a value of 5%. This means Alf Mizzi is relying on Melite's assets for the repayment of 77.7% of the loan. Melite Finance had said in February that it would safeguard the interests of bondholders, adding that the Alf Mizzi loan and buyback were the most viable means for securing bondholders' interests through a return of the capital previously invested in the bonds. Melite Retail caught a gasp of air in 2022 after reg- istering a €883,000 gross profit following the lock- down on its Italian stores due to COVID. The prof- its reflected the increase in rental income upon the re-opening of outlets. Melite was caught in the eye of the storm in 2020 and 2021, when the COVID lockdown forced shut some 26 of its Italian stores, affecting the payment of its 4.85% coupon. Melite to delist bonds with Alf Mizzi €9.2 million loan Malta third highest in EU ranking of corporate tax income CORPORATE income tax re- mains one of Malta's most sig- nificant sources of revenue at al- most 15% of its total tax income, the EU's latest taxation report for 2023 says. Malta ranked third in the EU, after Cyprus (18.1%) and Ire- land (21.5%) where corporate income tax forms a significant proportion of its state reve- nues. Malta still has the highest top statutory tax rates on business profits at 35%, followed by Por- tugal (31.5%) and Germany (29.9%), while the lowest can be found in Bulgaria (10%) and Hungary (9%). But Malta's statutory income tax rate masks the rebates that lead to an effective tax rate of 5% for companies that are owned by non-residents, or by residents without domicile in Malta. In Europe, various 'tiny' juris- dictions reported a very high number of companies per adult population, suggesting their use for shifting profits from high-tax regimes to lower tax countries – the highest num- ber of limited liability entities per adult are Liechtenstein (809), Gibraltar (619), Isle of Man (597), Guernsey (528) and Jersey (495). In the EU, Estonia (348), Luxembourg (330), Cy- prus (226), Belgium (168) and Malta (168). To avoid taxes, multination- al enterprises (MNEs) can use complex tax structures with entities in these jurisdictions to shift profits to subsidiaries where they will be less taxed. A 2022 study cited by the EU's taxation report identified Puer- to Rico, Ireland, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Sin- gapore and the Netherlands as the main destinations for prof- it-shifting. Malta has refunded over €13 billion in income tax to corpo- rate shareholders in the last 14 years under its refundable tax credit system. Every year since 2008, Malta refunded an average of 14.2% from the tax owing from these eligible companies. Current- ly there are 8,012 companies actively registering for tax re- funds under the refundable tax credit system. The number of companies benefiting from the refund has grown exponentially since 2008, when over €276 million in tax owing was whittled down to €39 million; to 2022, when a sheer €1.5 billion was whittled down to €216 million after re- funds. With tax revenues account- ing for 40.4% of the EU's GDP in 2022, the administration of taxes is a key element of the EU business environment. The European Commission is assisting Malta in addressing the challenges of data quality. Malta is receiving support for the introduction of real time reporting of payroll and VAT. "Simplification of revenue administration will reduce ad- ministrative burden, leading to improved tax compliance, in- creased tax revenues and a bet- ter business environment," the EU's taxation report says, espe- cially for digital VAT reporting and real-time reporting of "gig economy" income.