Press Release: State aid: Commission requests phasing out of distortive tax regimes in Malta

The European Commission on 23 March 2006 formally requested Malta under EC Treaty state aid rules to abolish the tax regime for Maltese Companies with Foreign Income (CFI) and the International Trading Companies’ (ITC) regime by the end of 2010 at the latest. Under these regimes, revenues from foreign sources paid to shareholders of an ITC or a CFI were subject to minimal or no taxation. The Commission intended to put a definitive end to these offshore tax regimes because they seriously distorted competition and trade in the Single Market.