[WATCH] Labour proposes 3-year tax holiday for businesses relocating to Gozo

Maltese businesses that choose to relocate their operation to Gozo will be exempt from paying tax for three years, and have their all tax spent on the move refunded by the government, prime minister Joseph Muscat pledged tonight.

“This is practically a three-year tax holiday for Maltese businesses,” he said. “But it is also probably the biggest incentive ever offered to help business growth in Gozo.

Muscat, who was addressing a press conference at Fort Chambray in Ghajnsielem in Gozo, said that the Labour Party was also proposing that those businesses that relocate to Gozo be refunded any tax they pay on expenses related to the move.

The Labour Party also announced that the promised fast ferry service between the two islands would be launched within months after 12 offers had been received following the call for tenders; three of those offers coming from foreign companies.

“We are now in the process of analysing the offers and we are confident the tender will be adjudicated within the next few months,” he said. “The fast ferry service between Mgarr and Valletta would therefore start operating soon afterwards.”

Muscat said that, under a new measure being proposed, parents of Gozitan children studying at the University of Malta would receive tax credits of up to €5,000 to cover their expenses incurred on renting accommodation in Malta.

A new Labour government would also be building a new old people’s home that would house 500 residents, in addition to the one already being built in Ghjansielem.

“These new measures I am proposing tonight complement the other benfits we have already announced, including offering up to 75% credit for the purchase of teleworking equipment by Gozitan businesses and up to 30% tax credit for new business startups on the sister island,” Muscat said.