The MIT commemorates 30 years at its annual Tax Conference
The MIT hosted its Annual Tax Conference on 4 April 2025 at the Westin Dragonara Resort St. Julians.
The event was opened by MIT President, Conrad Cassar Torregiani, who reflected on the work, achievements and continued relevance of the Institute, 30 years since its establishment on 15 March 1995.
The Institute is here thanks to the vision of its founders, most notable amongst whom is Mr. Edwin Vella, the first President of the MIT, who recognised the importance of such an association for the purposes of supporting tax professionals and their continuing professional education and contributing to the formulation of tax policy and the development of tax legislation.
The main theme of the event was the state of play around ‘Pillar 2’, the OECD’s global minimum tax rules which were incorporated into EU law in 2022 via the EU Minimum Tax Directive (Council Directive 2022/2523), which were in turn transposed locally by means of LN 32 of 2024 (See MIT News 23 February 2024), with Malta taking up the derogation in article 50 to defer the implementation of some of the rules.
The plenary sessions of the day commenced with a keynote address by Ms. Giorgia Maffini, Special Advisor on Tax Policy & Transfer Pricing at PWC UK, who discussed her views on the sustainability of Pillar 2 legislation in light of the cost of compliance and restrictions on countries’ ability to use tax measures to help manage economic crises. Raluca Enache, Head of KPMG’s EU Tax Centre shared insights on Pillar 2 from an EU perspective and the challenges and complexities for Member States, questioning the legal basis for the implementation of the Pillar 2 Directive in accordance with the administrative guidance of the OECD after the adoption of the Directive. The two keynote speeches were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. John Ellul Sullivan (KPMG) with Giorgia Maffini and Raluca Enache as panellists as well as Mr. Aldo Farrugia DG Legal, Technical & International Affairs at the Malta Tax & Customs Administration.
The MIT welcomed Chris Curmi, Chairperson of the Malta branch of the International Fiscal Association, who provided some insights into IFA and the benefits of IFA membership.
The morning plenary session concluded with a presentation by Dr Robert Taylor East on the outcome of discussions between the MIT’s Professional Affairs Committee, the NCC and other relevant stakeholders around the notion of ‘tax advisor’ and ‘tax advice’ for the purposes of determining whether or not a ‘relevant activity’ is being carried out by a tax professional pursuant to article 2(a) of the Prevention of Money Laundering & Funding of Terrorism Rules, and the developments and clarifications that can be expected.
Conference delegates had the opportunity for a deep-dive into technical tax issues with a choice of two breakout sessions:
- NID 7 Years on: What does the future hold? – Daniel Caruana, chairperson of the MIT’s Direct Tax Committee (Domestic & Compliance Sub-Committee) discussed the areas of uncertainty that persist 7 years after the introduction of the rules and the future of the regime, with Graziella Demanuele Bianco (KPMG) and Silvio Camilleri (EY).
- The VAT exemption for transactions in payments & transfers – Dr Sarah Cassar Torregiani (MIT) & Matthew Zampa (Zampa Partners) analysed the ECJ’s interpretation of the VAT exemption and the challenges that service providers encounter when determining whether or not the VAT exemption applies.
- Blurred lines in crypto taxation – panellists Dr Joseph F. Borg (WH Partners), Dr Conrad Cassar Torregiani (Deloitte) and Ms Louise Grima (KPMG) discussed emerging technologies and the income tax and VAT questions that arise around transactions involving them in a session moderated by MIT Tax Technology Committee chairperson Dr Ramona Azzopardi.
- Maximising Profit Allocation: What drives value? – Dr Trudy Muscat (Deloitte) and Ivan Zammit (Sheltons) discussed the extent to which associated enterprises contribute to the key value drivers of the Group, and whether an entity conducts a routine service or a core function.
Following a networking lunch, representatives from the MIT’s Direct Tax Committee (International Tax Sub-Committee) presented two MIT position papers:
- The notion of “similar to a company” for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts – a position paper which reflects the MIT’s views on the features which are relevant for the analysis of a foreign corporate vehicle for the purposes of determining whether that vehicle is ”similar” to a company incorporated under Maltese law – presented by Dr Ian Zahra.
- The allocation of income to a trust but which is deemed to be derived directly by the beneficiaries [article 27D(3)(b)ITA] – a position paper which reflects the MIT’s views on the interpretation of this provision in the context of a discretionary trust – presented by Dr Robert Taylor East
The last session of the day provided delegates with interesting and welcome insights into the progress achieved so far by the MTCA in the implementation of its 2023-2025 Strategic Plan: Delivering Transformation. David Ferry discussed the MTCA’s progress towards achieving a modern tax administration model based on taxpayer centricity, a paperless integrated process, multi-channel service delivery, real-time transactional processing, data-driven decision-making and risk-based compliance management, with Manfred Barbara, DG Verifications & Audit at MTCA and Aldo Farrugia, DG Legal, Technical & International affairs at MTCA.
The Malta Institute of Taxation thanks all the speakers and panellists for their invaluable contributions to the conference. A special thanks to sponsors Deloitte and KPMG for supporting the Institute and its initiatives.