Malta salary and tax: what to check before trusting a take-home figure

Check which year the rates belong to

Malta’s tax tables are written by year of assessment, and each one looks back at the year before it. So income earned in 2026 falls under year of assessment 2027. A table labelled 2027 may be about money you have already earned.

Article 56 of the Income Tax Act holds the rates, and the Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026 rewrote those tables from year of assessment 2027. Income earned in 2025 falls under the earlier tables, so an estimate that does not name its year is not much use.

Sources: Income Tax Act (Cap. 123), articles 10 and 56; Act III of 2026: Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026.

Check which rate table is yours

These are only the points where each year of assessment 2027 table stops charging 0%. They apply to chargeable income, which is not the same as gross salary, and each has conditions.

The child-related tables look at custody or maintenance, the child’s age and nationality or residence status. An unmarried, widowed, separated or divorced parent with sole custody may reach the married table if every listed condition is met. A spouse taxed separately uses the individual tables, and non-residents have different rates. Higher bands are in article 56, and the Malta Tax and Customs Administration publishes them as a table.

One figure differs between the two. For a parent with one child above €60,000, the Act and the consolidated Income Tax Act print €10,270 and the tax authority’s table prints €10,275. Our calculator uses the tax authority figure, which is the only one that keeps the tax continuous at €60,000. The difference is €5 a year.

• Single: 0% up to €12,000.
• Parent who does not meet the conditions for the next two tables: 0% up to €13,000.
• Parent with one qualifying child: 0% up to €14,500.
• Parent with two or more qualifying children: 0% up to €18,500.
• Married: 0% up to €15,000.
• Married with one qualifying child: 0% up to €17,500.
• Married with two or more qualifying children: 0% up to €22,500.

Sources: Income Tax Act (Cap. 123), articles 10 and 56; Act III of 2026: Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026; Malta Tax and Customs Administration: new tax rates, 2026.

Check what your employer was told

Employers deduct tax under the Final Settlement System, using the status on your Payee Status Declaration, the FS4. The rules ask for it within seven days of a new source of income, and again when your details change. Without it, tax is deducted at the maximum rate.

If you have more than one job, only one can count as your main source at a time, and some part-time work follows its own rules. After a mid-year job change, your FS3 statement of earnings helps the year-end adjustment see the full picture.

Sources: S.L. 372.14: Final Settlement System (FSS) Rules.

Check your social security category

Employee contributions are set in Part I of the Tenth Schedule to the Social Security Act. The employer and the Consolidated Fund contribute too. Your category depends on age, date of birth, basic weekly wage and any work and study scheme.

Basic weekly wage leaves out overtime, bonuses, extra allowances, remuneration in kind and commissions. Some part-time employees can elect to pay 10% of their actual wage, though that can reduce a later benefit or pension.

The consolidated schedule still shows an older €213.54 wage limit, below the 2026 minimum wage, so use the Department of Social Security’s 2026 table. These are its weekly employee rates, and the ones our calculator uses. Your employer pays a matching amount.

• Category A, under 18: €6.62 on a basic weekly wage up to €229.44.
• Category B, 18 and over: €22.94 on a basic weekly wage up to €229.44.
• Category C: 10% of basic weekly wage, up to €559.30 if you were born from 1962 or €490.38 if you were born up to 1961.
• Category D: a fixed €55.93 above that if you were born from 1962, or €49.04 if you were born up to 1961.
• Categories E and F: 10% for apprenticeship students, capped at €4.38 under 18 and €7.94 at 18 or over.

Sources: Social Security Act (Cap. 318), article 7 and Tenth Schedule; Department of Social Security: Class 1 contributions 2026.

Let the payslip set your budget

Once you have a real payslip, budget from its net pay. These invented amounts only show how to convert pay periods. This is not a tax calculation.

This is general guidance, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rates can change, and a payslip does not settle your final tax position. Confirm your category with your payroll, the Malta Tax and Customs Administration or a qualified adviser before relying on a figure for a job offer or a loan.