The tax will be collected at consumer level when items are purchased from local businesses.
Parliamentary secretary Tony Abela said Customs will keep its moral obligations and duties after 1 May. “The idea of people coming to Malta and bringing whatever they want with them should be dismissed. This will not happen,” he said.
Dr Abela said that now, more than ever, Malta needed to show that it was a serious country that could not be taken advantage of.
“Nothing will change in regard to goods imported from outside the European Union free-trade area. And already Customs has implemented new procedures to ensure that teething troubles are overcome before 1 May,” said Dr Abela.
He reiterated that government will not allow illegal trading in Malta.
“The difference is that anything coming from the EU is regarded as free trade. The importer will only have to complete what is known as an ‘Interstat form’,” he explained.
This form will carry details of the quantity, value and provenance of the imported goods. “But this does not mean that we will not conduct random checks. And any permits that are required at present – for example for weapons – will still be necessary after 1 May,” said Dr Abela.
He also said that anyone importing in excess of Lm300 worth of merchandise per year (for business purposes) will need to complete the form.
In conclusion, Dr Abela said that government was determined not to allow people to come to Malta in the morning, sell their wares and return to their own country in the evening.
Customs Head John Mifsud said that come 1 May, big changes will be in place at Customs. “Malta Customs will become part of 25 different customs forming one group that will protect the EU’s frontiers,” he said. Mr Mifsud said that although Malta will not experience a frontier change itself, it will be the Southern frontier of the EU and so Malta Customs’ responsibilities will become much heavier.
“We have developed an action plan for the necessary changes to be implemented. We have also had advisors from other countries helping us and we are participating in exchange programmes with EU member states,” he said.
“Customs Departments from other acceding states have asked to come and see our systems because they are not as advanced as we are”, Mr Mifsud added.
VAT Commissioner Oliver Vassallo said that the first step in the reforms was to change the VAT laws in order for them to conform with EU regulations. He said that new procedures were being put in place and VAT would no longer be paid on the arrival of merchandise in Malta. “VAT will be collected when the goods are sold on the local market,” he said. While red-tape will be reduced, said Mr Vassallo, importers and exporters will have to send in a recapitulative statement every three months in order to keep the VAT Department’s records up to date.
He said that the whole EU has a VAT information grid where such statements are scrutinised to make sure there is no abuse and to ensure that everything tallies.
Mr Vassallo said that a list of the new regulations can be found on the website VAT.gov.mt