Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1526110
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT OF A CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS UNDER European Social Fund+ 2021-2027 The Ministry responsible for European Funds would like to announce that it is launching a call for project proposals in the following areas: Priority 1 – Enhancing Employability and Labour Market Resilience Specific Objective: 4.3 – Gender balanced labour market participation Priority 2 – Fostering Active Inclusion for All Specific Objective: 4.11 – Equal access to quality social and healthcare services Specific Objective: 4.9 – Integration of third country nationals The calls will close on 25 th November 2024 at noon. The online application form for the submission of project proposals and supporting documentation are available on https://fondi.eu/what-funding-is-available/. Prospective Applicants are encouraged to refer to the European Social Fund+ Programme and the Eligibility Guidance Notes in order to check whether their proposals are eligible for funding through this call for project proposals. Further information on these calls and on the European Structural and Investment Funds may be obtained from https://fondi.eu/. Any query should be sent by email on fondi.eu@gov.mt. A dedicated information session is being organised on Thursday, 3 rd October 2024 from 09:00 till 12:00 at the offices of Servizzi Ewropej f'Malta – 280, Republic Street, Valletta. Registration for the information session can be done by scanning the below QR code. Labour pledged €60m tax cut CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The cost of the proposed widening of tax bands was estimated at €60 million and would come on top of the tax refund cheques for those earn- ing under €60,000. But Caruana refused to be drawn into commenting on whether the proposed tax cut would match the elector- al pledge or whether it would equal the reduction imple- mented by the incoming La- bour government in 2013. A €40m injection between 2013 and 2015 Back then, the top income tax rate was cut from 35% to 25% over a three-year span for those earning below €60,000. The measure left more than €40 million in people's pockets. The tax cut had been planned by the outgoing Nationalist administration but it never got the chance to implement the measure because Budget 2013 was defeated in parliament precipitating an election. The incoming PL govern- ment held an emergency budget and chose to retain the tax cut pledge even though it was not part of its electoral manifesto. But in historical terms, a massive tax cut had been in- troduced by the incoming 1987 Nationalist administra- tion when then finance min- ister George Bonello Dupuis slashed the top rate from 65% to 35% in a radical move that helped draw undeclared in- come out from the shadow economy. It eventually result- ed in higher tax revenues for government. Two years ago, Clyde Carua- na had said the time was not yet ripe for an income tax cut to help the middle class. Caruana had made that dec- laration in an interview with MaltaToday in October 2022 on the back of a €600 million fuel and energy subsidy pack- age just announced in the budget and an additional CO- LA mechanism for low earners. Caruana had argued that a typical middle class family could be saving up to €700 a year on fuel for every car they own and up to €1,400 annually on electricity bills as a result of the subsidy package. However, he did acknowl- edge that a tax cut would be considered at some point in line with the party's electoral manifesto. "As regards the middle class, the strongest measure to ben- efit them is an income tax cut. There is no such measure in this budget [Budget 2023] but I will see to it that this will happen, and not on the fifth year of this legislature," the minister had pledged. Managing expectations The promised tax cut will now be announced in the Oc- tober budget and come into effect in 2025, the third year of this legislature. But while the Finance Min- ister has been coy about man- aging expectations, the Prime Minister has gone on record describing the impending tax cut as "the biggest ever". During the June European election campaign, the Prime Minister had said tax cuts would leave up to €600 more per year in a family's pocket. He also suggested that those on the parent rate earning up to €1,000 per month would not pay any tax. The promise did little to as- suage voters and the PL went on to see its majority in the European election slashed to just 8,000 votes from 40,000 votes five years ago. Since then, Abela has tried to make a direct pitch to middle class voters and last week said tax bands will be widened and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has adopted a less euphoric approach, preferring not to comment on what next month's budget will contain