PN promises pension tax exemption on all income in first budget

Opposition Leader Alex Borg has promised that a Nationalist government will exempt all income earned by pensioners, including part-time work, rental income and investments, up to €37,000, in its first budget.

"This is my word as a man, it is a contract with the Maltese and Gozitan people," Borg said at a PN activity in Bormla on Sunday.

The pledge followed PN's accusation that Prime Minister Robert Abela misled pensioners after his announcement, claiming a new legal notice would exempt all pensioner income from tax up to twice the maximum pension.

However, Legal Notice 53 of 2026, published shortly after, raised the tax-exempt pension ceiling to €37,000, applying only to pension income, not other earnings, Borg pointed out.

Borg said many pensioners earn additional income not out of choice but out of necessity. "Everyone knows the challenges of the rising cost of living, medicine, rent, and food. You need some other form of income just to get by," he said.

He acknowledged that when Abela first made the announcement, he had been willing to support it. "I said, if he does it, let him do it; our pensioners would have a better, more dignified life. I was ready to back it. But days later, the legal notice showed the opposite of what he had said."

Borg also raised concerns about workers at Hal Safi Aviation Park, where he said more than 50 employees face redundancy, and a number have not received wages since 26 January, due to a dispute between government entities and the company.

He called on the Prime Minister to reach an agreement so that workers would not pay the price of the deadlock.

Borg stated the PN offered full cooperation on the international issue but criticised Abela for politicising a parliamentary briefing, comparing it to a Labour Party event.

Borg criticised the Vision Malta 2050 document, launched at an event he said cost over €5 million, noting that mass transportation was listed as "TBA." He contrasted this with a PN commitment to start a mass transportation system within 100 days of a Nationalist government and a promise to cut VAT on catering from 18% to 7% within the same period.

Closing his address, Borg told Cottonera residents, "I am not asking you to forget who you are or where you come from, only to consider the direction you want for this country."