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Matthew Vella
Gozo’s economic output may be lingering behind mainland Malta’s but the large discrepancy in the amount of VAT paid by businesses and service providers in Gozo when compared to their Maltese counterparts raises serious doubts as to how effective enforcement is in the sister island.
The total of 3,588 registered businesses and individuals offering services on the island of Gozo are accountable for just one per cent of VAT collected and on average pay eight times less than Maltese VAT-registered units.
Statistics released in Parliament indicate that Gozitan businesses pay a yearly average amount of Lm318 in VAT while their Maltese counterparts pay a yearly average of Lm2,557.
The statistics show that since 1999, Gozo businesses were accountable for an average of 1.16 per cent of VAT. According to the Nationalist Statistics Office, Gozo businesses account for seven per cent of the entire islands’ business register. There are 51,588 VAT-registered units in Malta and Gozo.
Last year, from a total of Lm123 million collected in value added tax, Gozo contributed just Lm1.1 million (0.92%). Until August this year, Gozitan businesses paid Lm1,062,850 in VAT accounting for 1.26 per cent of Government’s total tax take from VAT.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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