72,000 third-country nationals pay no income tax in Malta.
Adrian Delia
Official figures show 71,254 employees of all nationalities declared €12,000 or less in employment income in 2024. Third-country nationals were 27,874 of them. The Central Bank has also warned that annual earnings overstate low pay, because many foreign workers do not work a full year in Malta.How we reached this verdict ↓
Analysis and evaluation
The 72,000 figure appears to come from an official parliamentary reply, but it refers to workers of all nationalities combined, not to third-country nationals alone. It also counts people by their recorded annual earnings, which is not the same as paying no income tax.
What the government reported
In reply to parliamentary question 34023 from MP Ivan Castillo, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana laid on the table, on 9 February 2026, employment income figures for 2024 broken down by nationality. Of 301,332 employees taxed at normal rates, 71,254 declared employment income of €12,000 or less.
| Nationality | Earning €12,000 or less | All employees | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maltese | 30,242 | 175,859 | 17.2% |
| Third-country nationals | 27,874 | 80,975 | 34.4% |
| EU nationals | 13,138 | 44,498 | 29.5% |
| Total | 71,254 | 301,332 | 23.6% |
Source: PQ 34023, papers laid, p. 3.
About 28,000 third-country nationals were in the lowest bracket, 34.4% of the 80,975 in the dataset. The 72,000 figure matches the total for all nationalities, of whom more than 30,000 were Maltese.
Annual earnings are a poor guide to who pays no tax
A Central Bank of Malta discussion paper published in April 2026, The Impact of Labour Turnover on Malta's Wage Distribution by Aaron G. Grech, examined these same figures. It explains that a worker can appear to earn less than €12,000 a year simply because they worked in Malta for only part of it. Someone earning €1,800 a month for six months would declare €10,800.
The paper found that only 62% of full-time taxpayers worked all twelve months of 2024. Counting only those who did, the share earning under €12,000 falls from about 25% to under 6%. Labour turnover is especially high among foreign workers.
This does not mean those who worked for part of the year necessarily paid income tax. It means their recorded annual income cannot establish their normal wage level.
What the figures can and cannot show
The 27,874 third-country nationals who declared €12,000 or less are the most that this data could place in a zero-tax group. The true number with no final income tax to pay could differ because of tax residence rules, different tax computations, other income, credits and deductions. No published figure gives the number of third-country nationals with zero final income tax liability.
Editorial note
How we assessed this claim
We traced the 72,000 figure to the government's reply to parliamentary question 34023, which gives 2024 employment income by nationality.
We compared the figure with the number of third-country nationals in the same bracket, and with the Central Bank's analysis of the same data.
Unlikely true, because the official figures put third-country nationals declaring €12,000 or less at about 28,000, and declaring low annual income is not the same as paying no tax.
Limitations
- No published figure gives the number of third-country nationals with no final income tax liability. That would need data from the Malta Tax and Customs Administration.
- The parliamentary figures cover employees taxed at normal rates. They do not include other income or show tax actually paid.