Prime Minister Robert Abela said today that the government will be extending the tax on property reduction measure to cover properties the value of which does not exceed €400,000.
“We have seen so much success come out from this measure that we have chosen to extend it again to those individuals who form a convenium by December of 2021, and subsequently be present for a final contract by June 2022,” Abela said.
During a meeting on Wednesday with the Maltese Developers Association (MDA), PM Abela noted that it is always a pleasure to listen to the social partners, while observing that the MDA, during the Covid-19 pandemic, was always present with constructive proposals that improve the work of thousands of Maltese and Gozitan families. He also said that the association has greatly contributed to Malta’s economy.
PM Abela remarked that “if before we aimed to drive the country to an average level, we now want to see Malta become a place of excellence.”
He also observed the successes the government has made in various fields such as health, energy and education. Abela pointed out that the construction sector needs to be prepared for the next step forward.
“I believe that the environment and development sectors in this country can live together in synergy and complement each other. In the economic vision we have always seen this balance between environmental transformation and that of development. What we have achieved in the energy sector, we must achieve in construction,” Abela said.
During the meeting, Abela also noted how the proposals launched in the Economic Regeneration Plan were welcomed and bore fruit.
Abela mentioned some of the governments’ proposals including that of changing the construction machinery to a more efficient one and that of lowering tax on property.
“I believe that the new construction authority will be very effective in further improving the standard in this sector,” Abela remarked.
Meanwhile, MDA President Sandro Chetcuti spoke about the importance of the extension of the tax on property reduction measure, saying that it was the association that wanted to give its support to the tourism industries among other sectors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The proposals we made were welcomed in a few weeks and the results were also received. The study being presented recognises that the sale and purchase of convenia has increased by a value of €1.4 billion over the last year,” Chetcuti said.
He remarked that the construction industry spread a lot of wealth and during the pandemic, the industry employed over 40,000 people.
“Whilst we must work to address environmental challenges, we must understand that development is a direct support of the economy with 11% direct value added, that can contribute to the government helping other sectors as well,” Chetcuti said.
Although the rate of sale was high, the incentives for these measures went into the consumers’ pocket. Chetcuti also noted that a separate KPMG study showed that the price of affordable property has not risen for the first time in the last seven years.
“If we had not been resilient and sought to turn the challenges into opportunities, we would now have 40,000 people at risk of losing their jobs,” Chetcuti said.