Malta tax guide
Do I still need an accountant in Malta?
Yes. That's the honest answer from the people selling you the software, and it isn't modesty. An accountant does things Settlano can't do and shouldn't pretend to. What changes is what you know between visits, and what you're able to hand over when you get there.
What an accountant does that software can't
They take responsibility. A position on your return has somebody's name against it. Software produces an estimate; a warranted professional stands behind a filing. That difference is the whole point, and it is why every figure Settlano shows says so.
They handle the cases where the rules need judgement. A great deal of Maltese tax is arithmetic, and arithmetic is what software is for. The rest genuinely is not: whether a cost was incurred wholly and exclusively, how an unusual arrangement should be characterised, what to do when two provisions both seem to apply. Those need somebody who has seen it before.
They can deal with the MTCA for you. Registrations, correspondence, an assessment you disagree with. None of that is a thing an app on your phone can do on your behalf.
What a once-a-year meeting can't do
Your accountant sees your year after it's finished. That is the right time to file it and the wrong time to change anything about it.
The running figure. The tax and Class 2 already owed on money you've been paid is knowable on the day it arrives, not in April. Knowing it is the difference between spending what's yours and spending what isn't.
The deadlines, before they pass. Provisional tax, VAT returns, Class 2 and the TA24 date all have their own calendar. Missing one costs interest that nobody can retrospectively argue away.
The record, while it is still fresh. The Maltese audit trail wants the supplier, the date and the VAT number. That is a small job in the moment and an archaeology project eleven months later.
The €35,000 line, in advance. Crossing the VAT threshold has a 15 day clock attached. You want to see that coming, not learn about it from a reconciliation.
What each one hands the other
The split works because the handover is a real artefact rather than a good intention, which is the part most such arrangements skip. Settlano produces an accountant pack: a profit and loss, income and expense registers with the audit trail attached, and a VAT summary, as one PDF.
What that buys isn't a cheaper bill, it's a better use of the time. An accountant who isn't assembling twelve months of your paperwork is an accountant answering the questions that actually need them.
Three questions worth asking yours
Useful whether or not you ever use this app, and all three are things software genuinely cannot decide for you.
- Am I on the right rate table? Single, married and parent rates differ, and the parent rates need a qualifying child. Getting this wrong runs all year.
- Should I be on TA22, and is my activity eligible? The comparison is arithmetic and the eligibility is not.
- Which of my costs are actually deductible? Wholly and exclusively is a test with a lot of case law behind it, and it's where most freelancers either overclaim or leave money on the table.
The short version
Keep your accountant for the filing, the judgement and the things that need a name against them. Use software for the arithmetic that never gets tired, the calendar, and the record you'd otherwise reconstruct from memory.
Settlano is the second half of that. It says so on every screen that shows a figure, because a tool that computes your tax and blurs that line is a tool to be careful of.
Common questions
Do I need an accountant if I'm self-employed in Malta?
For anything that gets signed or filed, yes. An accountant takes responsibility for a position in a way software cannot, handles the cases where the rules genuinely require judgement, and can deal with the MTCA on your behalf. Settlano does not do any of that and does not claim to. What it does is keep the running figure between your visits, so you arrive with the year already reconciled.
Can software replace an accountant?
No, and be wary of anything that says it can. Software is good at arithmetic that never gets tired, at deadlines, and at keeping a record while the detail is still fresh. It is bad at judgement, at unusual facts, and at being accountable for an answer. Those are the parts you are actually paying an accountant for.
What does Settlano hand my accountant?
An accountant pack: a profit and loss, the income and expense registers with the Maltese audit trail attached, and a VAT summary, as one PDF. The point is that they spend their time on the questions that need them, rather than on assembling twelve months of your paperwork.
Will my accountant mind?
Most would rather receive a reconciled year than a folder of receipts in April. If yours has a view on how they want the figures presented, that is worth more than anything on this page: ask them, and set the app up their way.
Does Settlano give tax advice?
No. It produces planning estimates from published Maltese rules, with the source recorded against each one, so you can see where a figure comes from and check it. The decisions stay with you, your accountant and the MTCA.
Arrive at your accountant with the year already reconciled.
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