Latest Government Finance Data published by NSO shows that tax revenue for the first quarter of this year continued to be buoyant, outperforming the already positive results recorded in 2015.

PRESS RELEASE BY THE MINISTRY FOR FINANCE

Indeed, during the first three months of this year, tax revenue increased by €79.1 million over the same period of last year. Revenues from income tax recorded the highest increase, rising by €25.3 million year-on-year followed by revenue from social security contributions which increased by €22.4 million. These increases reflected the consistently high employment growth recorded in the recent period coupled with a historical low unemployment rate as well as the significant increases in compensation of employees and profits of businesses.

“I am pleased to note that tax revenues for the first quarter of this year managed to outperform an already high level of tax revenue recorded last year. This shows that we are succeeding in consistently increasing revenue collection without increasing taxes.”

Minister for Finance Prof. Edward Scicluna

Reflecting the broad-based growth registered by the Maltese economy, notable increases were recorded in all the other tax revenue components including customs and excise duties, licenses, taxes and fines and VAT.

Non-tax revenue figures for the first quarter of 2016 continued to be highly influenced by the lower Grants component. This decrease reflects the closure of the European Union financing period 2007-2013 at the end of last year and the start of the 2014-2020 EU funding program. These reductions would be neutralized by lower EU funded capital expenditure. In fact, capital expenditure for the first three months decreased by €36.3 million over the previous year.

During the same period, recurrent expenditure increased by €42.7 million over last year with the main contributors being contributions to government entities which increased by €21.8 million.

Friday 29th April 2016