VAT · Article 10
The Maltese VAT return, box by box
If you are registered under Article 10, you file a VAT return for every tax period: the VAT you charged, the VAT you can deduct, and the difference you pay. This guide walks through every box a freelancer is likely to use, in the form’s own words, and lets you fill one in with your own quarter.
At a glance
- Who files it
- Anyone registered under Article 10, for every tax period. A small undertaking under Article 11 files one annual declaration instead.
- When
- By the 15th of the second month after the tax period ends. MTCA gives seven more days for a return submitted online.
- How
- Through MTCA’s VAT online services, paying with the reference on the return.
Fill in your own quarter
Put in a quarter’s figures and the boxes fill in as you type, worked out by the same engine the Settlano app uses to prepare a return. It opens on an example quarter: a freelancer with clients in Malta, one in Germany and one in the United States, a software subscription billed from Ireland, a few local costs and a new laptop.
Net VAT for the quarter
not yet
Before any credit carried from your last return.
- VAT due on the periodnot yet
- VAT you deduct on purchasesnot yet
- Net VAT for the periodnot yet
Every box this return fills
Worked out by the engine the Settlano app uses to prepare a return, on 2026 rates, verified 13 Jul 2026. Sales and costs in Malta are VAT included, as your invoices and receipts show them; the VAT in them is taken out at 18%. A service from an EU supplier is what you paid, with no VAT on its invoice, and as an Article 10 trader you deduct the VAT you charge yourself on it. Box numbers are from the return in use since 2024: check each in myTax before you file.
How the return adds up
The form is five blocks that funnel into one figure. All the VAT due on the period, including the VAT you charge yourself on services from abroad, adds up to 26. All the VAT you deduct on purchases in Malta adds up to 39. The difference, after any adjustments, is the net VAT for the period; after any credit carried from your last return, it is the tax you pay.
- VAT due on the period26
- VAT you deduct on purchases39
- Adjustments in favour of the Department40
- Adjustments in your favour41
- Net VAT for the period43
- Excess credit from your last return44
- Tax payable45
When the VAT you deduct is the larger, the difference is an excess credit, 42, instead of a net figure.
Every box, and what goes in it
In the order the form prints them. The words in quotes are the form’s own labels; a box the form works out shows its sum instead. The numbers are from the Article 10 return in use since 2024: check each against myTax before you file, because a form can change between periods.
Trade with other countries
- 1
Services you supplied to business customers in other EU countries, who account for the VAT themselves (the reverse charge), and goods sent to EU businesses. You charge no Maltese VAT, so there is no VAT box beside it.
On the form:
Exempt IC Supplies of Goods and Supplies of Services where customer is liable for the tax
- 2
Other supplies whose place of supply is outside Malta, such as services to a client outside the EU. Its label also covers EU supplies, so which of these two boxes a service to an EU business belongs in is a reading of the form: confirm it with your accountant.
On the form:
Supplies of Goods and Services where Place of Supply is outside Malta - EU and Non EU
- 36
Services you bought from suppliers in other EU countries that invoiced you without VAT, such as software, advertising or hosting: what you paid, and beside it the VAT you charge yourself at the Maltese rate.
On the form:
IC Acquisitions of Goods and Services received from other EU Member States
- 47
The same for services from suppliers outside the EU. The form's labels send them here; that is a reading of the labels rather than a rule in the Act, so check it with your accountant.
On the form:
Goods and Services received where Place of Supply is Malta other than those reported in Box 3
Deducting the VAT you charged yourself
- 9a13a
The EU services from 3 again, with the VAT you may deduct. Under Article 10 that is normally all of it, so the two halves cancel. Filing only this half is an over-claim, not a wash.
On the form:
Services received from EU Member States where the purchaser is liable for VAT
- 1115
The deduction for services from outside the EU, the partner of 4.
On the form:
Goods and Services Received where Place of Supply is Malta
- 17
The VAT you charged yourself less the VAT you deduct. Usually nil.
Worked out on the form as ( 8 - 16 )
Your sales in Malta
- 1823
Sales at the standard 18%, before VAT, and the VAT you charged on them. Most freelance work lands here.
On the form:
Taxable Goods/Services @ 18%
- 18b23b
Sales at the reduced 12%, which applies only to the services the VAT Act lists.
On the form:
Taxable Services @12%
- 18a23a
Sales at 7%, for example accommodation.
On the form:
Taxable Services @7%
- 1924
Sales at 5%, only for the goods and services the VAT Act lists.
On the form:
Taxable Goods/Services @ 5%
- 20
Exports, and supplies exempt with credit: no VAT charged, and you keep the right to deduct the VAT on the costs behind them.
On the form:
Exempt with Credit / Exports
- 21
Supplies exempt without credit. The VAT on the costs behind them cannot be deducted.
On the form:
Exempt without Credit
- 25
The VAT on your sales in Malta.
Worked out on the form as ( 23 + 23a + 23b + 24 )
- 26
All the VAT due before deductions, your sales plus the net of the VAT you charged yourself.
Worked out on the form as ( 17 + 25 )
Your purchases in Malta, and imports
- 3036
Equipment the business keeps, such as a computer, a camera or furniture: its value before VAT, and the VAT on it.
On the form:
Capital Goods
- 3137
Services and overheads at 18%, such as phone and internet, professional fees or software bought in Malta, before VAT, and the VAT on them.
On the form:
Services & Overheads @ 18%
- 31b37b
The same at 12%.
On the form:
Services & Overheads @12%
- 31a37a
The same at 7%.
On the form:
Services & Overheads @7%
- 3238
The same at 5%.
On the form:
Services & Overheads @ 5%
- 39
The VAT you deduct on purchases in Malta and imports. VAT you charged yourself on a service from abroad never goes here; it has its own boxes above.
Worked out on the form as (34 +35 +36 +37 +37a + 37b +38)
Adjustments, and what you pay
- 40
Adjustments in favour of the Department, for example bad-debt relief paid back on the return for the period in which the customer finally pays.
On the form:
Adj in favour of Dept
- 41
Adjustments in your favour, for example bad-debt relief: only once the Commissioner has authorised your claim, and on the return for the period after that.
On the form:
Adj in your favour
- 42
The excess credit, when the VAT you deduct is the larger.
On the form:
Excess Credit
- 43
The net VAT for the period.
Worked out on the form as (26 - 39) + (40 - 41)
- 44
Any excess credit carried from your last return.
On the form:
Excess Credit B/F
- 45
The tax you pay: the net VAT for the period less any credit brought forward.
On the form:
Tax Payable
The form has further lines for goods bought to resell and for goods bought from other EU countries. They are not covered here; if you trade in goods, ask your accountant which apply to you.
Six mistakes the form will not catch
Only half of a reverse charge
A service from an EU supplier needs both halves: the value and the VAT you charge yourself in 3 and 6, and the deduction in 9a and 13a. The deduction on its own is an over-claim, because the VAT Act lets you deduct only tax you have reported as due.
Reverse-charge VAT in the purchases total
39 is for purchases in Malta and imports. The VAT on a service from abroad has its own boxes and never goes there.
Looking for a turnover box
There is none. Your sales are spread over the value boxes by VAT rate and by where the supply takes place, 18, 1, 2 and the rest, and the form works out the totals.
Reducing the VAT for a bad debt
Writing off an unpaid invoice is an income tax matter. VAT relief on a bad debt needs MTCA’s conditions met, starting with a final court judgment that the debt can never be recovered, and the Commissioner’s authorisation. Only then does it go in 41, on the return for the period after.
Forgetting the recapitulative statement
If you supplied services to business customers in other EU countries, being registered under Article 10 also brings a recapitulative statement: a separate return of those supplies.
Copying box numbers from an old guide
The return was revised in 2024 and gained new boxes. Match each figure to the label printed beside the box, and treat myTax as the final word.
When it is due, and how to pay
The return, and the VAT it shows, are due by the 15th of the second month after the tax period ends. Your tax periods are the ones set when you registered, so they need not be calendar quarters: the return this guide is checked against runs from November to January. MTCA’s notes for small businesses give seven more days for a return submitted online, and a due date that falls on a weekend or a public holiday moves to the next working day. The deadlines page has this year’s dates.
To pay, use the payment reference printed on the return, or the one the website gives you after you submit online, on MTCA’s online payments page or through your bank. When your deductions come out larger, the excess credit carries to your next return, where it appears in 44.
How Settlano prepares it
In the app, each VAT deadline opens the figures for that period, worked out from the income, invoices and expenses you logged, box by box under the same labels, with a copy button beside each figure to paste into myTax. Anything it cannot place in a box is shown and explained rather than guessed, and it leaves the credit from your last return to myTax. It does not file for you: you submit the return yourself, or hand the figures to your accountant.
Common questions
Who has to file a VAT return in Malta?
Anyone registered under Article 10 files a VAT return for every tax period, usually a quarter. A small undertaking registered under Article 11 files one annual declaration instead.
When is the Malta VAT return due?
By the 15th day of the second month after the tax period ends, with seven more days for a return submitted online. A due date that falls on a weekend or a public holiday moves to the next working day.
Do services I buy from abroad go on my VAT return?
Yes, when you are registered under Article 10 and the supplier invoiced you without VAT. You report what you paid and charge yourself the VAT, then deduct it in the deduction boxes. The two usually cancel, but both halves must be on the return.
Is there a turnover box on the Malta VAT return?
No. Your sales are spread over the value boxes by VAT rate and by where the supply takes place, and the form works out the totals.
Can I claim back the VAT on an unpaid invoice?
Only through bad-debt relief, which needs MTCA’s conditions met, starting with a final court judgment that the debt can never be recovered, and the Commissioner’s authorisation. Writing the invoice off in your books does not reduce your VAT.
Does Settlano file the VAT return for me?
No. It works out the figures box by box from what you logged; you enter them in myTax yourself, or hand them to your accountant.
Log what you earn and spend, and Settlano works out each return box by box from those numbers, then reminds you before every deadline.
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