CFR Malta + VAT Act Chapter 406 — 2025 update
How the Commissioner for Revenue runs Malta's VAT and e-invoicing regime today, what changed with Notice 178/2024, and the ViDA timeline that lands on 1 July 2028.
The Commissioner for Revenue (CFR) of Malta — Kummissarju għad-Dħul — is the merged tax authority that brought together the previous Inland Revenue Department, the VAT Department and the Customs revenue collection function. CFR is the competent authority under the VAT Act Chapter 406 for all 32,000+ VAT-registered businesses operating in Malta, and is also Malta's appointed authority for the EU's ViDA digital reporting package coming into force on 1 July 2028.
CFR's modernisation programme runs along two tracks: (1) regulatory — translating EU directives into Maltese subsidiary legislation under Chapter 406, publishing Notices that operationalise the rules (84/2017 on self-billing, 113/2019 on construction reverse charge, 178/2024 on Peppol readiness), and running the OSS and IOSS modules for cross-border B2C; (2) technical — operating the CFR online portal for Form 04, Form 02 and OSS quarterly returns, coordinating with MITA on the Peppol public AP, and preparing the Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) ingestion infrastructure that goes live with ViDA.
Timeline — VAT Act Chapter 406 and the road to ViDA 2028
- 1995
Malta's modern VAT regime is introduced via the Value Added Tax Act, Chapter 406 of the Laws of Malta. Standard rate set at 15% (later raised to 18% in 2004).
- 2004
Malta joins the EU. CFR (Commissioner for Revenue) becomes the competent authority for VAT, and intra-EU acquisitions + recapitulative statements (Form 02) become part of the standard quarterly cycle.
- 2017
CFR Notice 84/2017 formalises the self-billing framework. Prior-written agreement requirement and the deemed-acceptance via 15-day silence rule become CFR-published guidance.
- 2019
CFR Notice 113/2019 introduces the domestic reverse charge for construction services under art. 20A of the VAT Act. Council Implementing Decision 2018/1493 authorises the mechanism.
- 2021
OSS (One-Stop Shop) Union scheme launches across the EU. Maltese businesses selling digital services or distance-selling goods to consumers in other member states above the €10,000 threshold register via CFR's OSS module.
- 2024
CFR Notice 178/2024 opens the voluntary Peppol Access Point register and publishes the EN16931 readiness guidance for VAT-registered businesses in Malta. MITA becomes the public-sector AP of record.
- 2025
Council Directive 2025/0067 (ViDA package) is adopted. The Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) pillar sets the EU baseline mandate for intra-EU B2B structured e-invoicing at 1 July 2028. CFR begins phased onboarding programmes for Maltese suppliers.
- 1 July 2028
EU ViDA mandate goes live. Every intra-EU B2B invoice from a Maltese supplier to a counterparty in another member state must be issued as EN16931-compliant XML and routed via Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (or an equivalent EU-recognised channel).
CFR Notices in force (2025)
- Notice 84/2017 — Self-billing framework. Prior written agreement, mandatory invoice wording, deemed acceptance via 15-day silence. Sets the template clause that most Maltese self-billing arrangements adopt verbatim.
- Notice 113/2019 — Construction reverse charge. Scope of subcontractor → main-contractor supplies, the apartment-block carve-out, documentation expectations and the binding-ruling procedure for borderline cases.
- Notice 178/2024 — Peppol readiness and EN16931 guidance. Opens the voluntary Peppol Access Point register, sets out the technical expectations for Maltese suppliers, and signals that domestic B2B will follow the EU intra-EU baseline closely after July 2028.
- CFR Guidelines on the VAT Treatment of Remote Gaming. Sector-specific guidance for MGA-licensed operators on exempt B2C gambling, taxable B2B platform fees, white-label arrangements and reverse-charge treatment for cross-border services.
What Maltese VAT-registered businesses must do by 2028
1. Register a Peppol Access Point. Pick MITA for low-volume B2G work, a commercial AP for high-volume B2B. Both can coexist. The participant identifier (0007:MT + your Maltese VAT number) is yours — switching AP later is straightforward.
2. Upgrade your invoicing software to EN16931 output. Native XML in UBL 2.1 or CII, mapped to Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. Get the schemeID (0007:MT) right on supplier and buyer identifiers, encode Maltese VAT rates with the correct tax category codes (S=18%, AA=7%/5%, Z=0%, E=exempt, K=intra-EU, AE=reverse charge), and use Maltese postal code format in PostalZone.
3. Adapt your archive to 6-year structured retention. Keep the original Peppol XML payload, not just a PDF render. The CFR auditor can request the SBDH envelope, the AS4 signature and the validation log during a routine audit — converting the original to PDF and discarding the XML is not compliant retention.
4. Align Form 04 + Form 02 + OSS workflows. The quarterly cycle stays intact, but the inputs to the return will increasingly come from the structured Peppol data stream rather than manual re-entry from PDFs. CFR has signalled pre-populated returns from 2027 onwards for trusted participants.
5. Train accounts staff on the new tax point semantics. Under ViDA, the tax point shifts from the invoice issue date to the actual delivery date for most B2B supplies — small change on paper, big change for cut-off accounting and accrual reversals. CFR will publish a transitional notice on the tax-point alignment in 2026 or 2027.