Why not Malta?

[JimBeam]

However this topic comes from the frustration of a change of life in the last few months that has brought me a repressed anger ...
I moved 4 months ago to Romania where there was a lot of good talk also on this forum, and after only 4 months, I want to leave. It was a radical change in my lifestyle, and the thing that disappointed me most, is the fact that despite being in perhaps the most international area of Romania (Bucuresti - Pipera) I have strong problems communicating with people in English and it's making my life hell.
So... I was thinking of Malta just to return to a lifestyle more similar to the one I like, without giving up the benefits of a ridiculous taxation

Yes, this can be a bit of a problem... Have you tried Timisoara (looks like a younger city to me)?
I have tried living in Malta but after a month I had a feeling that I was in jail as the island was so small...
Living there for 6 months would be quite difficult for me to do...
IMHO Lifestyle is not bad if you're young 20-30yo and you like to drink (as there isn't much to do other than that)...

The island is also really small which can be a downside (there is a lot going on and to do for a island this size though), it is really congested all of the Island pretty much, there is no quite spot on Malta, everywhere there are people, every piece of the island has been adjusted by human hands, there is pretty much no nature. So if you are looking for a quite place Malta is not for you, Gozo is more quite though.

Mdina is pretty quiet

Everything is really bureaucratic and slow, even a lot the private business lack good service here like car dealerships, probably because of a lack of competition.

This is also true... As you can't go anywhere else and they know it - and they don't bother...

There are direct flights to pretty much all big cities in Europe, you can also leave the island by car (1.5 hours to Sicily).

By car to Sicily - possible buy not cheap (if I remember well return ticket would be around €600 or so).
Also in Malta they drive on the opposite side (one of the biggest issues I have with Malta).

Climate is pretty much the best you will find in Europe, it can get pretty hot in July and August but you can be out of the country in July and August if you are not a fan of hot weather.

I do not agree. As it's a small island it's very humid and it has no greenery so it's all hot stones all over the place. You feel like in oven. There are better places in Europe where you can have a better climate (in Italy, France or Spain) but it's a complex topic...

it is so funny when they jump on people who have like 10500 Euro in cash and write about it with such pride that they do something.

It's just for publicity so they can show to the EU that they are doing something...

 

[kkein]

can you explain, contribution ?

I meant that afaik the 20k tax free salary in Cyprus is tax free but not contribution free, that iirc are approx 25%.

 

[CyprusLaw]

I meant that afaik the 20k tax free salary in Cyprus is tax free but not contribution free, that iirc are approx 25%.

Correct - you have to pay social security and GHS contribution on your salary from the beginning, however, it is not mandatory to have a salary, so someone could just get the payments just as dividends.

 

[oldtimer2]

Hello to all . I had lots of experience of Malta some years ago and would never recommend a malta bank to anyone. Also, the legal system is a nightmare and weighed against smaller person / non-local and generally lawyers can run court cases for 20 years and still not get a final decision. However, with Malta off the grey list now:
a) does anyone have experience starting a malta company (with real economic substance in Malta) and were you able to open a local business bank account? If not in malta, then where did you open your business bank account?
b) Is WISE / Revolut opening business accounts for Malta companies again now?
c) Does anyone have a good story to tell about using IOM holding co and Malta as business activity co (with economic substance as required) ?

 

[Mr Gus]

Hello to all . I had lots of experience of Malta some years ago and would never recommend a malta bank to anyone. Also, the legal system is a nightmare and weighed against smaller person / non-local and generally lawyers can run court cases for 20 years and still not get a final decision. However, with Malta off the grey list now:
a) does anyone have experience starting a malta company (with real economic substance in Malta) and were you able to open a local business bank account? If not in malta, then where did you open your business bank account?
b) Is WISE / Revolut opening business accounts for Malta companies again now?
c) Does anyone have a good story to tell about using IOM holding co and Malta as business activity co (with economic substance as required) ?

Never tried opening a businnes bank accout not there, not even a personal one. WISE and Revolut are not accepting Maltese companies anymore however personal accounts are fine. Probably 99% of expats use Revolut, even a big portion of the local population uses Revolut.

You have local EMI's like WAMO and Finductive, the first one is relatively easy to get a business account with. Finductive however does a lot more compliance. You will get a local IBAN with Finductive and a Baltic or UK one with WAMO.

What is the added bennefit of using a IOM Holding with a Maltese trading company?