Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has denied that the income tax reduction for parents with children aged 18 or younger (or 23 and younger for those still in formal education) has created two classes of families between those who are eligible to benefit from this measure and those who don't.

When asked about this by The Malta Independent on Tuesday, Minister Caruana commented that he doesn't believe this is the case. The Minister for Finance said that after announcing a tax cut "for everyone" last year, the government opted to put a similarly great effort to help families with children still being raised this year.

"We felt it was time to recognise the commitments of families with children because their household spending is far higher than other households. We know that children cost money to raise," Minister Caruana said.

While discussing this new measure, Caruana clarified that "the government isn't giving them anything," but rather, through this, more of the money that parents have earned will be allowed to remain in their pockets.

He noted that while every annual budget looks to address certain challenges, this year, the government felt that it was time to support this particular category of families. He stressed that "this does not mean that in future budgets, we won't address all workers [again]."

This comment was given during a brief press conference, organised by the Minister for Finance, held around 16 hours after the annual budget for the next year, Budget 2026, was announced. This press conference made reference to some of the announced new measures from the previous night. Here, Minister Caruana stated that "we must take care of and reward hard-working people." He said that this message must hold in everything the government does.

Minister Caruana said on Tuesday afternoon that measures promoting this sentiment are what have led Malta to where it has arrived today. He stated that because of the country's sustained economic growth, "now it is time for the country to take care of its children too," speaking in reference to several announced measures favouring families with children still being raised.

Among such measures were the slashing of income tax for parents through the creation of new tax tables for families with at least one child not over 18 years in age (or 23 years old if they are still in the formal education system).

Caruana remarked that the time has come for the government to show clear signs that families must be better supported. He noted that this must be done through several measures, though "the biggest one" was announced during Monday evening's budget.

The Minister for Finance said that over the next three years, income taxes will be reduced "year after year after year to ensure that families retain more of their income." He added that according to researchers from the University of Malta, many families with a child wish to have a second, but are discouraged - "sometimes" due to financial reasons.

Finance Minister Caruana said that the measures announced during Monday's budget would not have been possible if the Maltese economy wasn't growing and generating the wealth that it is. He added that amidst everything, "no extra tax was introduced."

During this post-budget press conference, Caruana referred to two new measures from Budget 2026: a 175% tax credit on R&I costs undertaken by companies and a maximum 60% tax credit on investments done in the next two years, paid over four years.

The Finance Minister clarified that through the 175% tax reduction, "on every €100 invested on research and development, €175 is returned by the government for the company to write off in its taxes." He said that this measure is a "very important step" for the government to help many companies grow.

He said that incentives like these illustrate how the government is empowering companies to invest in capital so that the country's production base can grow more productive.

Minister dismissed criticisms that climate change and quality tourism were not mentioned in Budget 2026

Finance Minister Caruana dismissed criticisms that Monday's budget failed to mention climate change at all, leading to questions on whether this important global environmental issue is truly part of the government's vision, at least in the short-term. He also shared his trust in the government's strategic direction to eventually move from having mass tourism to attracting quality tourism.

On climate change, Minister Caruana said that measures promoting sustainability - such as for solar panels and for electric cars - are costing the country "around €40 million in incentives, if not more" per year. This includes all measures to reduce energy consumption, he added.

He said that with all the money being invested into this sector in recent years, "in no other year was as much money invested for the greening of our economy." Caruana affirmed that despite these worries, the country is continuing this rhythm, and is not abandoning this major issue. He remarked that just because something went unmentioned during his Budget speech, which lasted nearly three hours, this does not mean that the government has abandoned these works.

On tourism, Minister Caruana believes that slowly but surely, "the government continues to improve the quality of its product" and that we must be patient for the quality of tourists to continue improving afterwards.

Caruana commented that in the past, tourism was discussed as a seasonal sector as many apartments and hotels "used to go empty" in autumn and winter, though this no longer remains the case. He concluded that as Tourism Minister Ian Borg announced new airplane routes opening this coming June, more plans and policies are to come. He stressed that as the country works to improve its own product, such as infrastructure and surrounding environments, it is also very important for stakeholders to also continue improving on the services they offer - "that way, we can ensure that the quality of tourists in our country can continue improving."