Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/702141
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 JULY 2016 26 Letters THE government has told host families it has reached a "reasonable and practical" agreement to tax their income from accom- modation they give to foreign language stu- dents, right at the start of the peak season. In a letter sent to host families, Parliamen- tary Secretary Tonio Fenech said a "simple and equitable" manner to reflect the income generated from hosting students had been agreed upon. But English-language schools are still claiming the new tax will not be helping them overcome their shortage of host fami- lies. "It could rock the sector, which according to last year's NSO figures is still growing, up to 62,000 students in 2005 from 56,000 in the previous year," John Dimech, the presi- dent of the federation of English-language schools FELTOM, claimed. Host families will be allowed a Lm1,000 "residence-sharing deduction" from their total income, and will only be taxed on on the resulting "net profit", which will be 35 per cent of the remaining balance. The other 65 per cent is being considered as expenses incurred for hosting the students. Host families are also expected to be taxed on net profit generated in 2002, 2003 and 2004 only if their net profits exceed Lm3,100. This will be taxed at 15 per cent, although it is unlikely that anyone will be exceeding the Lm3,100 band, John Dimech said. Legally, since any commercial undertak- ing requires the payment of social security contributions, host families will also be re- quired to submit these payments from 2006 onwards if taxable income exceeds Lm390. "In reality families can have the licence in the husband's name and avoid paying con- tributions if he works and already pays social security. The examples in Tonio Fenech's letter do not suggest this alternative and as we did not have much time to inform families accordingly, we may have lost a few families," Dimech said. The activity can also be registered as part- time work, in which case the net profit gen- erated will be taxed at a fixed rate of 15 per cent on the first Lm3,000 net profit. Dimech said the announcement of the tax, right at the start of the peak season, was badly timed and had caused "a lot of unnec- essary alarm" and scared off potential host families. Julian Cassar Torregiani, director of AM Language Studio, said the tax was a fair as- sessment of what technically was a business, but said it still had negative consequences. "If taxable income exceeds Lm390 house- wives will be expected to pay social security. Even if this income was registered in the husband's name, who is already working and paying social security, it might push their income over a higher tax band. The tax will condition host families, and they will think whether hosting students is worth it or not." Dimech also said government may have overlooked the exemption of certain social cases, such as single parents, from having to pay social security contributions. Income from hosting students, mainly throughout the summer season, had for long been considered by families as a source of supplementary income, beyond the reach of the taxman. Last year, government en- tered into talks with the Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) and FELTOM in a bid to get host families to declare their income. "Obviously, nobody likes to pay tax but we understood from the GRTU that the new method of taxation is fair," Dimech said. Families will not be required to maintain accounting records and receipts, but the In- land Revenue Department will be receiving information from all schools and compare all the declarations made. Taxman ropes in host families as summer begins Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. 9 July, 2006 Publication of IIP citizens' names in gazette As reported in 'Passport buy- ers: 2015 citizens' list' not yet published' (MaltaToday.com.mt, 22 June, 2016), it is mandatory that the names of all persons who during the previous 12 calendar months were granted Maltese citizenship (whether by registration or naturalisation) are published in the Government Gazette. This is in accordance with sub-regulation 14(2) of the Individual Investor Programme of the Republic of Malta regula- tions (L.N. 47 of 2014). Indeed, the list pertaining to the year 2014 was published in the Government Gazette of 31 July, 2015. Likewise, the list for the calendar year 2015 will also be published as provided for in the above-mentioned legislation. Dorothy Falzon Communications co-ordinator, Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government Rupert Murdoch, the people's puppeteer The Western World has had the likes of Randolph Hearst, Lord Beaverbrook and Robert Maxwell. Much-maligned though they were by the way they swayed public opinion to suit vested interests against the common good, compared with Rupert Murdoch they have turned out to be as wholesome as a glass of milk. Murdoch was the puppeteer behind Farage. His daily The Sun has for years been running a campaign about how bad the EU was for Britain. As a very late starter on Fleet Street, decades after the institu- tion called The Daily Mirror, The Sun in a matter of a few years, grew into such a tremendous force that it became Britain's big- gest-selling daily, with the Mirror forever languishing behind. Murdoch was once asked in a BBC interview, why is he so rabidly anti-EU? Hardly had the interviewer finished his question, then Murdoch jumped in with: "When I go to Brussels, nobody takes any notice of me. When I go to Downing Street, I never emerge from No. 10 before hav- ing them doing my bidding." Joe Genovese Birkirkara Clarification An appreciation published on page 26 of MaltaToday's 3 July, 2016 issue mistakenly referred to Eric Sollars as Eric Serra- cino. The error is regretted. Mr Serracino was a dedicated public official who worked at the Office of the Prime Minister and who passed away suddenly at the age of 51. Serracino was described as a very meticulous person, very capable and willing to listen, "the kind of civil servant that one enjoys working with. He was a person with integrity, as one should be," former UHM president Gejtu Tanti said. MaltaToday apologises for the error and offers condolenc- es to Eric Serracino's family, his wife Mireille and his son Paul. Against proposed fuel station next to Turkish Muslim Cemetery at Marsa Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna appeals to the Planning Authority and government to stop in its tracks the proposed conversion of a der- elict factory abutting the Turkish Muslim cemetery at Marsa into a fuel station and a car-wash facility. Such a development is not only incompatible with the historic and sacred nature of the complex but will seriously leave a negative visual impact on the otherwise grand orientalist building dating to 1874. Given its nature it will also contribute towards the pro- gressive degradation of its stone fabric as a result of increased vehicular fumes. The Turkish Muslim cemetery is a scheduled Grade I building. It was designed in the Indo- Persian style by the celebrated Maltese Victorian Chief Govern- ment Architect Emanuele Luigi Galizia (1830 – 1906), and upon the personal request by the Ot- toman sultan Abdülaziz when he visited Malta in 1867. This archi- tectural style is in itself very rare in Malta and is to be found in a few other instances of buildings also designed by Galizia such as his summer house "Alhambra" in Rudolph Street, Sliema. FWA recommends that not only this proposed development is refuted but the area currently occupied by the derelict factory itself is cleared from the existing building and landscaped to fur- ther help accentuate better the grand architectural style of the Turkish Muslim Cemetery. Mario Farrugia Chairman, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna