“We speak VAT, Customs & Excise, Stamp Duty….”

An indirect tax, as opposed to a direct tax, is a tax that is collected by an intermediary, on behalf of a fiscal authority, from the person who ultimately bears the economic burden of the tax. Such taxes typically increase the price of goods and services for the ultimate consumer; that is why they are referred to as indirect taxes. The most common forms of indirect taxes are Value Added Tax (VAT), sales taxes, import duties. 

Value Added Tax and other indirect taxes are often the weak spot of many tax advisors. As a result, the implications of such taxes are often overlooked both in domestic and cross-border business transactions. This can have tremendous negative results in the form of unrecoverable VAT or cash flow difficulties as a result of delayed refunds. VAT is a particularly sensitive area in financial services and other regulated businesses such as i-gaming where VAT is often non-recoverable. Private yachting and aviation are also very sensitive to VAT.

VAT and indirect tax advisory is a core business at Corrieri Cilia and we pride ourselves of our specialists in this field. The firm has built a solid reputation for excellence in this field and is the trusted VAT and indirect tax advisor of many non-specialist law firms and service providers in Malta. Corrieri Cilia regularly advises on the domestic and cross-border VAT implications involved in providing supplies of goods and services in, to, from or via Malta and/or other EU Member States as well as on Customs and Excise implications in case of importation of goods from non-EU countries.  

We also provide VAT related services including VAT registration, deregistration, preparation of VAT returns, assistance during tax audits and investigations. Our team’s knowledge of Maltese and EU legislation as well as our understanding of the tax authorities’ approach allow us to provide our clients with the best advice and assistance in this field.