Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/825522
3 MATTHEW VELLA FINANCE minister Edward Sci- cluna yesterday told German fi- nance journalists at the Maltese embassy in Berlin, that Malta "had nothing to hide" in a bid to repel claims by a state minis- ter of North-Rhine Westphalia that the island hosted 70,000 offshore companies. A data leak of Malta's com- pany registry, which contains almost 80,000 companies, was claimed by the state minister of having all offshore, a claim im- mediately rebutted and denied by Scicluna. "What you see is what you get… We have nothing to hide," Scicluna was quoted as saying by the Suddeutsche Zeitung about Malta's full imputation system, a system of tax rebates that was recognised and accept- ed by the European Union when Malta joined in 2004. The system enjoys the sup- port of both the Nationalist and Labour parties, which is an essential part of the Maltese financial services industry and which annually brings in over €247 million in international tax receipts. The system gives up to 85% in rebates on tax paid by companies from dividends payable to foreign shareh olders. "Certain persons from Ger- many", Scicluna said referring to NRW state minister Norbert Walter-Borjans, want to harm Malta's reputation. "If the German tax authorities ask us for information about German holdings in Maltese companies, we will pass them on," he said. Numerous German corpora- tions use Malta's incentives, such as the chemicals group BASF, the car-rental company Sixt and airport operator Fra- port. Back-offices in Malta tend to employ little more than au- ditors, perhaps no employees at all. Scicluna last week dismissed Walter-Borjan's claims as hy- perbole. "Pull another one," Prof. Scicluna wrote on Twitter. "Since when the whole Maltese company register of Maltese registered companies becomes foreign, offshore and German?" The minister has called the allegatios "baseless and highly damaging, fabricated allega- tions with the clear intent of discrediting the Maltese finan- cial services industry." "This is being done by individ- uals who are obsessed with ma- liciously scoring points on the local political scene, with ut- ter disregard for the truth and the livelihoods of thousands of families depending on an in- dustry which has been pains- takingly cultivated through cross-party collaboration over the years." During his visit, Scicluna also held talks with the German Federal Finance Minister Wolf- gang Schäuble at the Federal Fi- nance Ministry. The number of Maltese com- panies registered over the years has reached around 80,000, of which, 53,000 were still on the register. The others had been dissolved or struck off. maltatoday, THURSDAY, 18 MAY 2017 News PORTOMASOLIVE.COM REGISTER NOW 1 2 3 Register your personal account JOIN DEPOSIT EARN CASHBACK Place your deposit, play & participate in our promotions You're always a winner at Portomaso Live You're always a winner activists propose 'radical education, health Other proposals put for- ward by APF included the enforcement of taxation at source to create "a fairer distribution of national wealth." Referring specifi- cally to tax evasion, APF suggested a social fund be created, whereby money forked over from those convicted of tax evasion can be collected and used for those in need. APF said that social hous- ing should be considered a temporary "safety net" as opposed to a lifelong gov- ernment service. "We believe in coopera- tive housing and the revi- sion of the current agree- ments made by the housing authority to safe-guard both the tenants and the owners," APF said. APF Malta added that governments should intro- duce the concept of 'social architecture', where hous- ing will be socially de- signed to not only provide adequate units for families and individuals but to cre- ate a sense of community and services within each housing estates. "This 'social architecture' must be supervised by ho- listic teams composed of mentors aiming to truly decrease poverty and so- cial exclusion through this new concept." APF also expressed sup- port for several organisa- tions who have recently argued for changes to in- come and pensions to safe- guard decent living stand- ards. "As a forum we strive to put in the centre, those vulnerable people suf- fering from poverty and social exclusion. Poverty is alleviated primarily by social justice not by social services," APF said. 'We've got nothing to hide', Edward Scicluna tells German press over Maltese tax system Edward Scicluna (right) with European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici