THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, IN ITS PLAN TO ELIMINATE SHELL COMPANIES IN THE EU BY 2024, POINTS AN ACCUSATORY FINGER AT MALTA AS A MAJOR OFFENDER

Castille, circa 2025  by COSIMO

The European Commission has laid out its planS to shut down Shell Companies within the EU in two years. Whilst the media has detailed the specific indicia which it will use to identify shell companies that will be disqualified from taking advantage of tax breaks within the EU after 2024, apparently nobody noticed that the Republic of Malta and Cyprus have been singled out as the principal European tax haven offenders, who are using shell companies.

The EC white paper specifically named Malta, based upon its appearance as a principal tax evasion player, which was exposed by the Panama Papers. Since most readers rarely go beyond the statements contained in news articles, and do not go to the source material, we are excerpting here the paragraph that shows how concerned the EU is regarding Maltese misconduct within the EU. Unfortunately, major media, including those in Malta, have chosen to skip over that damaging detail.

Elvis has Left the Building by COSIMO

The elimination of the ability of Malta companies to evade EU Member states' tax laws will abruptly bring to an end Malta as an offshore financial centre, as a jurisdiction where "tax planning" by local lawyers and accountants cheat the other Member countries of their tax revenue. The party will be over for Malta, requiring its professionals to abandon their sordid and lucrative ways for something legitimate. Time to clean yourself up, Malta, and switch gears if you want to attract normal clients. 

(TAKEN VERBATIM FROM THE EC WEBSITE:) 

On the geographical scope of the problem

The use of shell entities for tax avoidance or evasion is not an “EU problem” only. Shell entities are spread across the globe, especially in zero or very low tax jurisdictions. Data from tax leaks26 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) can suggest an answer to the geographical scope and magnitude of the problem.

For instance, the recent Pandora Papers revelations point to shell entities in many third countries: British Virgin Islands, Seychelles, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates to cite only some. On the other hand, in the Pandora Papers there is also mention of entities in some EU Member States, namely Cyprus, Ireland and Luxembourg. Most of the entities involved in the Panama Papers were from the British Virgin Islands, followed by Panama and The Bahamas. The Panama Papers also mentioned several entities in Cyprus and Malta.

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Malta's Labour Party may indeed prevail at the next National Election, only to preside over what can only be described as a financial nightmare. Whether massive emigration is the result we cannot predict, but change is coming to Malta, and there will be casualties. Fasten your seat belts, Gahans, the flow of free money is about to stop.

The last Labour Flight to Dubai is Overbooked by COSIMO