Guide
Malta tax rates: single, married and parent income tax brackets
Updated
Malta has three income tax tables, not one, and a qualifying taxpayer is assessed on whichever gives the lower tax. Here is each as the Act writes it.
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How this calculator works
- Income tax is computed from the tables in article 56(1) of the Income Tax Act (Cap. 123) as consolidated on 10 March 2026 (legislation.mt: Cap. 123). The Act writes each band as a rate less a fixed subtraction; computing them as marginal slices gives the same answer to the cent.
- Single: 0% to €12,000, 15% to €16,000, 25% to €60,000, then 35%. Married: 0% to €15,000, 15% to €23,000, 25% to €60,000, then 35%. Parent: 0% to €13,000, 15% to €17,500, 25% to €60,000, then 35%.
- Social security is Class 1 at 10% of basic weekly wage from each side, employee and employer. It is set by Part I of the Tenth Schedule to the Social Security Act (Cap. 318) (legislation.mt: Cap. 318). Both sides pay the same amount. Overtime and the statutory bonuses are not basic wage.
- Verify the weekly maximum before running payroll. The maxima used here are €53.23 a week for a person born on or after 1 January 1962 and €42.31 for a person born earlier. Below a basic weekly wage of €213.54, the category B flat rate is €21.35.
- These are the figures in the Tenth Schedule as consolidated on 10 March 2026. Legal Notice 10 of 2025 substituted that schedule with effect from 1 January 2024, and no later amendment appears in the consolidated Act. Malta revises the ceiling by legal notice, so check it against the current year's rate sheet.
- The employer also pays a maternity fund contribution of 0.3% of basic weekly wage under Part IV of the Tenth Schedule. That is between €0.64 and €1.60 a week for a person born on or after 1 January 1962 (€1.27 for earlier cohorts). Same consolidation date, same verification point.
- The calculator assumes an employee aged 18 or over in ordinary insurable employment for a full 52 contribution weeks. Under-18 rates, student-worker schemes, part-time elections and any year treated as 53 contribution weeks are outside it.
- Not modelled: the statutory bonus and weekly allowance, cost of living adjustment, fringe benefits and non-resident rates. Also not modelled: the 15% flat rate for qualifying highly skilled individuals under separate rules, tax credits, and any final withholding tax on other income.
Malta tax bands: the three computations
Article 56(1) of the Income Tax Act (Cap. 123) sets out three tables:
- For a married couple assessed jointly.
- For any other individual resident in Malta.
- For a resident individual who is a parent maintaining a child under 18, or under 23 in full-time education.
The Act expresses each band as a rate applied to the whole chargeable income less a fixed subtraction. That is arithmetically identical to taxing each slice at its own rate.
| Chargeable income | Single | Married | Parent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nil rate up to | €12,000 | €15,000 | €13,000 |
| 15% band up to | €16,000 | €23,000 | €17,500 |
| 25% band up to | €60,000 | €60,000 | €60,000 |
| 35% above | €60,000 | €60,000 | €60,000 |
| Subtraction in the 15% band | €1,800 | €2,250 | €1,950 |
| Subtraction in the 25% band | €3,400 | €4,550 | €3,700 |
| Subtraction in the 35% band | €9,400 | €10,550 | €9,700 |
Worked example against the Act's own method
Take €30,000 of chargeable income at the single rates:
- The Act's method: 25% of €30,000 is €7,500, less the €3,400 subtraction, giving €4,100.
- The marginal method: nothing on the first €12,000; 15% of the €4,000 between €12,000 and €16,000 is €600; 25% of the €14,000 between €16,000 and €30,000 is €3,500. Total: €4,100.
The calculator uses the marginal method precisely so that its answer can be checked against the statutory formula.
The 2026 additions for taxpayers with children
The Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026 (Act III of 2026) added further tables, applicable from year of assessment 2027. They widen the bands where children are maintained and nationality or residence conditions are met. Their nil rate runs:
- To €17,500 for a married couple with one qualifying child, and to €22,500 with two or more.
- To €14,500 for an individual with one qualifying child, and to €18,500 with two or more.
The calculator deliberately does not apply those child-related tables. They carry conditions a salary box cannot test: custody, nationality, long-term resident status and the child's place of birth. The printed subtraction for the one-child individual table's top band does not reconcile with its own 25% band. If one may apply to you, have the computation checked rather than assumed.
Tax computation in Malta: which table applies
- Married rates apply to a married couple resident in Malta assessed jointly, unless a separate return under article 49A or a separate computation under article 50 has been elected.
- Parent rates apply to a resident individual who maintained a child under 18, or under 23 in full-time education, or who paid maintenance for a child under article 12(1)(t).
- Single rates apply to every other resident individual, including each spouse who has elected a separate return.
- Non-residents have their own scale in article 56(1)(c), starting with a nil band of only €700. An EU or EEA national deriving at least 90% of worldwide income from Malta may claim the resident rates instead.