Malta tax calculator
Malta tax calculator for the self-employed
By Settlano · Last updated 9 October 2026
Put in your year's net profit: income tax band by band, Class 2, and what is left, worked out by the Settlano app's own engine.
Yours, after income tax and Class 2
€21,537.72
- Income tax
- €4,100.00
- Class 2 social security
- €4,362.28
- Set aside in total
- €8,462.28
- What's left
- €21,537.72
On €30,000 of net profit (single rates) you keep €21,537.72: income tax and Class 2 together take 28.2%. Class 2 has hit its weekly ceiling, so more profit adds none.
Worked out on 2026 rates, verified 13 Jul 2026, by the engine the Settlano app runs. Each rate’s official source is in the figures box.
See the working, band by band
| Band | Rate | Your profit in it | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| €0 to €12,000 | 0% | €12,000.00 | €0.00 |
| €12,000 to €16,000 | 15% | €4,000.00 | €600.00 |
| €16,000 to €60,000 | 25% | €14,000.00 | €3,500.00 |
The band figures add up to the income tax above, exactly.
Self-employed profit only, no salary, no TA22 election; Class 2 assumes last year’s profit was the same as this year’s. 2026 rates, verified 13 Jul 2026. In the app the same engine follows your own profile and your own ledger.
For 2026, income tax on the single table is 0% up to €12,000, then 15% to €16,000, 25% to €60,000 and 35% above; Class 2 is 15% of last year’s net profit, at least €36.18 and at most €83.89 a week (MTCA income tax rates and MTCA Class 2 rates; 2026 rates, verified 13 Jul 2026).
What do the two numbers mean?
Income tax is charged through progressive bands, so no single percentage describes it. The first slice of your profit is taxed at nothing, the next at 15%, and so on up through Malta's 2026 tax bands. That's why the calculator shows the bands rather than one rate: the marginal euro and the average euro are taxed very differently, and only one of them tells you what your next job is worth.
Class 2 social security is the one people forget. It's a separate charge at 15% of last year's net profit, held between a weekly floor and a weekly ceiling. The floor is the part that bites: a quiet year doesn't reduce it below the minimum, so it can cost more than your income tax when profit is low.
Neither is paid in one go at the end of the year. Income tax comes in three provisional instalments, on 30 April, 31 August and 21 December, worked out on an earlier return rather than on this year's profit, and the return settles the balance. Class 2 is due on the same three dates, as a separate amount.
Add them together and that's your set-aside. Everything else you earn is yours to spend, which is the whole idea behind Settlano.
Income tax and Class 2 together as a share of net profit on the 2026 single rates: 18.8% at €10,000, 26.4% at €25,000, 26.9% at €50,000, 30.0% at €100,000; on small profits the Class 2 weekly minimum makes the share high. Drawn by the Settlano engine from the 2026 rates, verified 13 Jul 2026.
For five profit levels side by side, see what a Maltese freelancer actually keeps.
What does the calculator leave out?
It starts from net profit, not turnover. Net profit is what's left after the costs you incurred wholly and exclusively to earn the income. Work that out first: the allowable expenses guide sets out what counts. A calculator that guessed at your expenses would hand you a confident number built on somebody else's assumptions.
It assumes no salary. If you have a job as well, Malta stacks the freelance profit on top and taxes the increment, so your profit passes through higher bands than the ones shown here. That case belongs on the TA22 calculator, which compares the flat 10% part-time route against the standard bands.
It doesn't apply TA22, and it doesn't model your first year, where Class 2 is the weekly minimum, €36.18 (€1,881.36 for 2026), whatever you earn, because there's no prior year to charge on. It uses the Class 2 rates for people born in 1962 or later: if you were born in 1961 or earlier your maximum is lower, and MTCA's 2026 rates put it at €73.56 a week, reached from €25,500 of last year's profit. It also says nothing about VAT beyond the threshold line below, because VAT is charged to your clients rather than taken from your profit.
Where does VAT come in?
VAT isn't part of this sum, but it's the number that changes your obligations. On Article 11 you stop qualifying on the day your calendar-year turnover passes €35,000. Within 15 days you must apply to cancel your Article 11 registration; it ends, and your Article 10 registration starts, on the first day of the following month. From then you charge VAT and file quarterly returns. Turnover, not profit, and it's counted by supply date.
The VAT threshold guide has a headroom calculator and the exact provisions.
Where do these figures come from?
Every number the calculator shows is computed by the tax engine inside the Settlano app, compiled to run in your browser, on the same dated rules file the app uses. There's no second implementation here to drift out of step with the product.
The rates themselves are read from a single configuration file with its sources recorded against each rule, and the page shows which year it's on and when those rules were last checked. If you want to see the reasoning rather than the arithmetic, the Malta freelancer tax guide walks through bands, Class 2, provisional tax and the return in the order you meet them. If another calculator gives you a different figure, the checks for any Malta tax calculator show why.
Common questions
How much tax does a self-employed person pay in Malta?
It depends on your net profit and which rate table you are on. Profit is taxed through progressive bands, and on the single table the first €12,000 is taxed at 0%, then 15%, 25% and 35% as the profit rises. On top of income tax you pay Class 2 social security, which is 15% of last year's net profit inside a weekly floor and ceiling. The calculator on this page shows both, and shows which band each part of your profit fell into.
Is Class 2 social security separate from income tax?
Yes, and it catches people out. They are two different bills with two different rules. Class 2 is charged at 15% of last year's net profit, clamped between a weekly minimum and a weekly maximum, so a lean year still costs you the minimum and a very good year stops rising at the ceiling. It is due in three instalments, not once a year.
Does this calculator handle expenses?
No, and that is deliberate. It starts from net profit, which is what is left after the costs you incurred wholly and exclusively to earn the income. Work out your profit first, then put that figure in. Guessing at expenses inside a calculator would produce a confident number built on someone else's assumptions.
What if I also have a salary?
Then the answer here is not yours. Malta stacks freelance profit on top of your salary and taxes the increment, so the bands your profit passes through are higher ones. If your self-employment is genuinely part-time alongside a full-time job, look at TA22 instead, which is a flat 10% on the first €12,000 of part-time profit.
When do I actually pay it?
Income tax is settled through provisional tax instalments due 30 April, 31 August and 21 December, worked out on an earlier return rather than this year's profit, with the return and the rest of the tax due 30 June by law; for 2026 MTCA moved that to 31 July. Class 2 falls due on the same three instalment dates, as its own separate bill. Missing them is what turns a manageable bill into an expensive one. Every Malta tax deadline is listed in one place.
Why is my answer different from another calculator?
Most often for one of three reasons: Class 2 taken as a flat 15% of profit rather than 15% held between a weekly minimum and maximum, an old tax year's bands, or sales used instead of profit. The checks for any Malta tax calculator show how to tell which.
The figures on this page
- Income tax bands (single): 0%, 15%, 25% and 35%, changing at €12,000, €16,000 and €60,000 · MTCA tax rates, 2026
- Class 2: 15% of last year’s net profit, held between €36.18 and €83.89 a week · MTCA Class 2 rates, 2026
Every figure above is read from the same dated config the Settlano engine computes with: 2026 rates, verified 13 Jul 2026 · The charging acts: Cap. 123 · Cap. 318. The rules behind them were put to a commissioned accountant and legal review in August 2026, before launch.
Changes to this page
Changes to what this page tells you, newest first, with the law behind each: corrected where it had been wrong, clarified where it could mislead, and where the law itself changed. New sections and rewording that keeps the meaning are not listed.
- 9 Oct 2026:
Corrected. MTCA can move the payment date with the online date: for 2026 its notice of 3 June moved paper filing, online filing and payment of the return to 31 July. By law the return and its tax are due 30 June.
S.L. 372.16, rules 2(c)(ii) and 5(b); MTCA notice of 3 June 2026
- 9 Oct 2026:
Corrected. On Article 11 you stop qualifying on the day your turnover passes €35,000. Within 15 days you must apply to cancel the Article 11 registration; it ends, and Article 10 starts, on the first day of the following month. Turnover of exactly €35,000 still qualifies.
Cap. 406, article 11(5)(b) and (7), and the Sixth Schedule, Part One, item 3
- 9 Oct 2026:
Clarified. For people born in 1961 or earlier, the Class 2 maximum starts at €25,500 of last year's net profit; MTCA's 2026 rates put it at €73.56 a week.
Cap. 318, Thirteenth Schedule, as amended by Act III of 2026, article 31
- 8 Oct 2026:
Corrected. Class 2 is 15% of last year's net profit, held between the weekly minimum and maximum.
Cap. 318
Settlano does this every time you log a job, so the working is done every time, not when you remember it.
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