Every worker will be receiving a tax refund cheque in the coming days, Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna announced in a press conference on Wednesday.

Each person will receive this cheque by post by the end of next week, Scicluna said. 

People with an income below €15,000 will receive €68 while people with an income between €15,000 and €60,000 will receive between €40 and €50. People earning over €60,000 will not benefit from the refund.

This new system is the fulfilment of an electoral promise, Scicluna pointed out, and it will replace the current tax refund system which was paid out according to the principle of equity.

Scicluna said that this system was not a fair one, and that if the desire was to spread more wealth, it had to be changed.

Therefore a cheque will be sent as a tax refund to all those who are working in Malta and Gozo.

Indeed Scicluna said that around 200,000 workers will benefit from this measure.

All workers receiving a salary less than €60,000 will receive the rebate, and the amount shall be scaled according to each person’s income. In order to help those with lower income, those at the low end of the income scale will receive the highest refund.

The refunds apply also to those registered workers who do not pay tax, and also who work on a part time basis. In the latter case, the amount will be scaled down to reflect the lesser hours of work.

The measure will cost €11.4 million in total to fulfil.

Taking the highest refund that one can receive, Scicluna said that it meant a €1.23 increase per week. Tied with the €1.75 COLA increase, Scicluna said that this meant an increase of €3 euro per week in income for workers.

If someone does not receive the cheque, they can call on 153 to report this.

Scicluna said that especially for those who have recently started working, there could be omissions from the database. All those who think they are eligible for the rebate and do not receive it are urged to call 153 to rectify any possible mistakes.