Home buyers saved €20m in taxes through budget measure, Abela tells developers

House buyers have saved more than €20 million in taxes by investing in vacant properties or traditional Maltese homes in village cores, the prime minister told developers on Wednesday.

Robert Abela told members of the Malta Developers Association that a budget 2022 measure intended to incentivise purchases of "typical" Maltese properties was proving to be a success.

The measure, announced last October, offers tax cuts to anyone who buys a home that has been vacant for seven or more years, is in a UCA or built in a “traditional” Maltese style. 

Purchasers who qualify do not pay any capital gains tax or stamp duty on the first €750,000 in value of the property. 

Speaking during a pre-budget meeting with the MDA, Abela said that the measures meant that the government had forgone €18.6 million in taxes on UCA property purchases and more than €1 million in taxes owed on the purchase of vacant homes. 

Abela told developers that construction need not come at the environment’s expense and that his government would “continue to incentivise development that makes sense and is of quality”.

MDA president Michael Stivala told the prime minister that the lobby group backed the government’s...