Meeting with Finance Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech yesterday morning, a joint delegation from the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise and the Malta Federation of Industry urged the government to reconsider its position with regard to amendments to Malta’s property tax regime, currently being discussed in Parliament.

In a joint statement yesterday, the bodies insisted that property valuations by a government-appointed architect should be performed at the promise of sale stage to ensure a fair valuation process.

While acknowledging the government’s intention to dissuade the hoarding of property, the business representative groups also raised the contentious issue of offsetting capital gains on property with commercial losses. The social partners insisted that the commercial sector must be given incentives to invest in real business activity, adding that the government “must seek to eliminate all practices and instances that could lead to injustices”.

“In this regard, the chamber and FOI believe that the proposed amendments will serve to pose additional burdens on business concerns passing through rough times,” the social partners warned.