Budget 2027: Helping businesses and their employees thrive

Ahead of the upcoming budget, Momentum is proposing a Wage-Support Mechanism so that the burden of a higher minimum wage does not fall solely on small businesses.

During the four-year staged increases of the minimum wage to €360 per week, proposed earlier by Momentum, the government should co-finance 65% of the increase for two years for small and medium enterprises that retain their staff for two years.

To help businesses find and keep skilled people, Momentum proposes a maximum 15% flat income tax for the first 10 years for Maltese professionals with level 7 to 8 qualifications who return after more than five years abroad. Talented Maltese working overseas should be incentivised to come home and build their careers here.

Momentum proposes capital gains exclusions for companies that offer employee share option schemes so that workers share in the success of the businesses they help build and benefit from attractive pay packages. We also propose a Voluntary Sector Release Scheme, giving private employers tax rebates for releasing staff for voluntary work, on par with charitable donations.

To address the public cost of rapid population growth, Momentum proposes a tiered infrastructure fee on companies where more than 30% of the workforce are third-country nationals. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees would be exempt. Revenue collected from this initiative would go towards supporting and improving Malta’s infrastructure.

“Workers deserve a decent wage, and small businesses deserve support to pay it. At the same time, public services and infrastructure in Malta are overstretched. Large companies whose business model depends on importing labour must contribute to the roads, services and infrastructure that growth demands,” said Kyle Pullicino, spokesperson for Momentum.

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