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Julian Manduca
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi still does not know whether his idea of renting out several of the floors at Malta House in Brussels will see the light of day, MaltaToday has been led to believe. Seventeen days after MaltaToday first asked whether tax exemptions would be lost on the property, his advisors have not been able to give him an answer.
The last communication received from the Department of Information nine days ago was “that Government is still awaiting official advice from KPMG about the matter and
will be able to provide the information in the coming days.” On Tuesday, MaltaToday phoned the Prime Minister’s Communications Coordinator asking whether the information was available as promised and was told “as soon as we have the answers from our advisors we will send them to you.”
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is on record - August 27 - stating that the Brussels property will be self-sufficient, basing his argument on an annual revenue of Euro 700,000, but it appears that Gonzi had not factored in the tax elements.
The purchase of an embassy is free of taxes, but only if it is used “exclusively for the purposes of the consular post,” according to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The only time MaltaToday had the opportunity to put the question about taxes to the Prime Minister face to face, it was clear that he did not know the answers and he replied “God Forbid,” promising to check with his experts and get back to us. That was fifteen days ago.
The exact number of floors the government intends to rent out commercially remains a mystery as Gonzi is on record stating there would be four, but in a communication with this newspaper explained that it might be three and half and in an interview in in-Nazzjon this week the Prime Minister was reported as having said that of the nine storeys only four and a half were needed by the government, meaning four and half could be rented out.
A financial controller that spoke to this newspaper said that tax on old building purchased in Brussels was due at 12 percent on the purchase, but there are other taxes on office space and the number of computers or working stations available. It remains unclear how much tax would be due on the revenue that the Malta government expects to garner from the rent.
julian@newsworksltd.com
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