Amendments to the Maltese Income Tax Act have recently come into effect increasing the scope of the exemption on royalties received from intellectual property rights to trademarks. Article 12 (1)(v) now provides for an exemption from tax with respect to royalties, advances and similar income derived from :
(i) patents in respect of inventions
(ii) copyrights; and
(iii) trademarks
This exemption applies whether the royalties are obtained in the course of a trade, business, profession or vocation or otherwise and are subject to the satisfaction of such terms and conditions and approvals that may be established by subsidiary legislation. In the case of copyrights and trademarks, the said subsidiary legislation is not yet available but is expected shortly.
The addition of trademarks to the royalty exemption now covers the whole spectrum of intellectual property rights and is expected to make Malta even more attractive as an intellectual property holding jurisdiction.