Malta's residence programmes from 2027: questions answered

From 1 January 2027, Legal Notice 195 of 2026, the Individual Tax Programme Rules, brings Malta's four special tax residence programmes under a single framework. The Global Residence Programme, The Residence Programme, the Malta Retirement Programme and the United Nations Pensions Programme are each replaced by a status under the new Individual Tax Programme.

The bargain itself survives: a flat 15% on foreign income received in Malta, against a minimum annual tax and a qualifying property. What changes is the price of entry: a higher minimum tax, a higher property threshold, a single application fee and a new renewal fee.

Read the legal notice: Legal Notice 195 of 2026 on legislation.mt (opens in a new tab)

Each programme maps to one new status:

• The Residence Programme (TRP) becomes EU/EEA/Swiss Resident status.
• The Global Residence Programme (GRP) becomes Global Resident status.
• The Malta Retirement Programme (MRP) becomes Retired Pensioner status.
• The United Nations Pensions Programme (UNPP) becomes UN Pensioner status.

No. Under all four statuses, foreign income received in Malta is taxed at a flat 15%. Income arising in Malta is taxed at 35%. Under UN Pensioner status, the United Nations pension itself is exempt.

EUR 35,000 for Global Resident and EU/EEA/Swiss Resident status, against EUR 15,000 under the GRP and the TRP today. EUR 15,000 for Retired Pensioner status. EUR 20,000 for UN Pensioner status, charged on income other than the exempt UN pension.

For the two main statuses, the new floor is more than twice the current one.

No. The minimum tax is a single figure for the beneficiary. No additional amount is charged for a spouse or for qualifying dependants covered by the status.

A property purchased for at least EUR 700,000, or leased for at least EUR 14,000 a year, held as your primary residence. The same threshold applies across Malta and Gozo.

Under the current programmes, the thresholds are EUR 275,000 to purchase and EUR 9,600 a year to lease.

It disappears. Under the current programmes, the purchase threshold drops to EUR 220,000 for a property in Gozo or the south of Malta. From 2027 there is one national threshold of EUR 700,000, with no regional distinction.

For anyone who was looking at Gozo or the south, the threshold more than triples.

A single non-refundable application fee of EUR 8,500 replaces today's fees, which differ by programme. Status runs for five years and is renewable, at your option, for further five-year periods against a renewal fee of EUR 2,500. The rules state that renewal is not to be unreasonably withheld.

The five-year term is not new. Status under the current programmes already runs for five years with renewal required. What is new is the renewal fee, which the current programmes do not charge.

Global Resident status is for nationals of countries outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland who are not long-term residents of Malta. EU/EEA/Swiss Resident status is for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, other than Maltese nationals and permanent residents of Malta. Retired Pensioner and UN Pensioner status are open to anyone who is not a Maltese national, a long-term resident or a permanent resident of Malta.

The two pensioner statuses carry income tests. For Retired Pensioner status, your pension must be received in Malta and make up at least 75% of your chargeable income. For UN Pensioner status, at least 40% of your United Nations pension, or widow's or widower's benefit, must be received in Malta.

Your spouse or partner in a stable relationship; your children under 18, including adopted children in your care; children under 25 in your care who are not economically independent; and adult children who cannot support themselves because of a serious illness or disability and who live with you in the qualifying property.

Among them: you must not spend more than 183 days in any other jurisdiction in a calendar year; you must hold the qualifying property as your primary residence; you must hold health insurance covering you and your dependants across the EU; you must have stable and regular resources sufficient to maintain yourself and your dependants without recourse to social assistance in Malta; and you must not be domiciled in Malta, or intend to become so within five years of applying.

31 December 2026. A status granted by that date, and any application received by that date, continues on its existing terms until 31 December 2031.

The date that matters is when the application is received, not when status is granted. An application received in December 2026 and approved in 2027 still secures the current terms.

Not before 31 December 2031. A status granted, or applied for, on or before 31 December 2026 continues on its existing terms until then. The protection covers all four replaced programmes, including the Malta Retirement Programme and the United Nations Pensions Programme.

The transitional provision protects existing terms until 31 December 2031 and does not itself say what follows. If you hold a current status, or secure one this year, that date belongs in your planning now rather than in 2031.

Yes. The 2027 framework is more expensive, not closed. From 1 January 2027, applications are made for one of the four new statuses, on the new terms.

No. The Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), the Nomad Residence Permit, the highly skilled individuals regime and the Family Office Rules sit under their own rules and are not changed by it. The MPRP is residence by investment: it gives a right to reside, but carries no special tax status of its own.

Yes, through standard ordinary residence. There is no programme, no application fee and no qualifying property requirement. For a non-domiciled individual it brings the remittance basis: foreign income is taxed only when brought into Malta, and foreign capital gains are not taxed at all.

Income that is taxable is charged at progressive rates up to 35%, and a EUR 5,000 minimum tax applies only where foreign income reaches EUR 35,000. Whether a programme earns its minimum tax back against this is the central question for most people considering Malta.