INCOME TAX AND DUTY ON DOCUMENTS AND 
TRANSFERS ON TRANSFERS OF DWELLING 
HOUSES TO SHAREHOLDERS EXEMPTION [ S.L.123.54 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 123.54
INCOME TAX AND DUTY ON DOCUMENTS AND 
TRANSFERS ON TRANSFERS OF DWELLING 
HOUSES TO SHAREHOLDERS EXEMPTION 
ORDER
15th May, 2001
LEGAL NOTICE 124 of 2001.
Citation and scope.
Documents and Transfers on Transfers of Dwelling Houses to
Shareholders Exemption Order.
(2) This Order applies to any transfer of a dwelling house
made by a company to an individual by means of a deed published
not earlier than the 21 November, 2000 and not later than 30th
September, 2001 and which satisfies all the following conditions -
( a ) the transferee is on the date of the transfer a
shareholder in the said company and has been a
shareholder of that company without interruption since
at least the 20th November, 2000 up to the date of the
transfer;
( b ) at 20th November, 2000 and up to the date of the
transfer the transferee alone or together with a member
or members of his family held directly or indirectly an
aggregate of at least twenty percent in nominal value
of the shares or of the voting rights in that company;
( c ) at 20th November, 2000 and up to the time of the
transfer the transferee or a member of his family
occupied without interruption the dwelling house as
his sole ordinary residence.
Interpretation.
( a ) a member of the family of the transferee means his
spouse, ascendant, descendant, brother or sister, or a
descendant of his brother or sister;
( b ) "dwelling house" includes a garage attached to or
underlying that house or a garage of not more than 30
square meters situated within 500 meters of that house
and transferred by the said company to the transferee
by means of the same deed with that house.
Transfer terms.
Cap. 123.
( a ) if the use of the dwelling house by the occupier or
occupiers up to the date of the transfer is deemed to
constitute a benefit by reason of an employment or
office in terms of article 4(1)( b ) of the Income Tax
Act, no tax shall be chargeable under that Act on the
2 [ S.L.123.54
INCOME TAX AND DUTY ON DOCUMENTS AND 
TRANSFERS ON TRANSFERS OF DWELLING 
HOUSES TO SHAREHOLDERS EXEMPTION
value of the said benefit;
( b ) if the transfer constitutes a benefit by reason of an
employment or office in terms of the said article
4(1)( b ) of the Income Tax Act, no tax shall be
chargeable under that Act, on the value of the said
benefit;
( c ) no gain shall be deemed to arise from the said transfer
for the purposes of article 5 of the Income Tax Act;
Cap. 364.
( d ) no duty shall be chargeable in terms of article 32 of the
Duty on Documents and Transfers Act in excess of
Lm2.50 for every Lm100 or part thereof of the deemed
transfer value determined in accordance with
regulation 4( a ).
Transfer 
conditions.
4. The exemptions granted by this Order shall be subject to
the following conditions -
Cap. 372.
( a ) the deemed transfer value referred to in regulation 3( d )
shall be the cost at which the company had acquired
the dwelling house increased by the cost of
improvements incurred by the company before the 21st
November, 2000 as shown in the records which that
company is required to keep in accordance with article
19(4)( a ) of the Income Tax Management Act
disregarding any revaluation that may have been made
by the company of the value of the said property;
Cap. 123.
( b ) if the actual consideration for the transfer is less than
the deemed transfer value determined as aforesaid the
shortfall shall not be treated as a loss for any of the
purposes of the Income Tax Act and the amount of the
shortfall shall, moreover, be deemed for the purposes
of that Act to be a dividend paid by that company to
the transferee out of the untaxed account and the
provisions of article 59(5) and of article 62 and the
other relevant provisions of that Act shall apply
accordingly;
( c ) for the purpose of determining the capital gains in
terms of the Income Tax Act arising upon a subsequent
transfer of the dwelling house in full or in part by the
transferee, the cost of acquisition of the dwelling
house shall be deemed to be the deemed transfer value
as determined in accordance with paragraph ( a ), and
notwithstanding the provisions of article 5(10)( b ) and
( c ) of the said Act, no capital loss resulting from or
bad debt incurred in relation to any other transfer shall
be set off against any capital gains determined as
aforesaid;
INCOME TAX AND DUTY ON DOCUMENTS AND 
TRANSFERS ON TRANSFERS OF DWELLING 
HOUSES TO SHAREHOLDERS EXEMPTION [ S.L.123.54 3
Cap. 364.
S.L.364.06
( d ) when the parties to the transfer wish to avail
themselves of the exemptions granted by this Order
they shall make and give in a form supplied by the
Commissioner the declarations and all the information
specified in the Schedule to this Order. The
declarations in the said form shall be signed on behalf
of the company by an individual who is an officer of
that company duly authorised for that purpose, by the
transferee, by a notary public and by a certified public
auditor as specified in the said Schedule and the form
shall be delivered to the Commissioner of Inland
Revenue together with the notice relative to the deed
required in terms of article 51 of the Duty on
Documents and Transfers Act and the Duty on
Documents and Transfer Rules, within the time limit
prescribed for the delivery of that notice: provided that
in the case of a transfer made before the date of this
Order the said form shall be delivered to the
Commissioner at the Capital Transfer Division of the
Inland Revenue Department, Valletta, by not later than
the 31 July, 2001;
( e ) the parties to the deed shall furnish to the
Commissioner such further information and
documents as he may at any time reasonably require
for ascertaining the eligibility to the exemptions
granted by this Order;
( f ) in the event that any condition set out in this regulation
is not fulfilled or that any information or declaration
given or made for the purposes of this Order results to
be incorrect in any material respect, the exemptions
shall be forfeited;
( g ) this Order shall have such retroactive effect as may be
necessary to give effect to the exemptions granted
herein with respect to any transfer to which this Order
applies made before the date of this Order.
Exemptions may 
not be availed of in 
part.
5. The exemptions granted by this Order may not be availed
of in part, and when they have been validly availed of all the parties
to the transfer shall be deemed to have accepted the conditions set
out in regulation 4 notwithstanding any renunciation or reservation
made by any person.
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INCOME TAX AND DUTY ON DOCUMENTS AND 
TRANSFERS ON TRANSFERS OF DWELLING 
HOUSES TO SHAREHOLDERS EXEMPTION
SCHEDULE
Information and Declarations for the purposes of the Income Tax and Duty on 
Documents and Transfers on Transfers of Dwelling Houses to Shareholders 
Exemption Order
Part A
Description of the dwelling house and the transfer value information to be supplied and 
declaration to be made and signed by an individual who is an officer of the company duly 
authorised for this purpose
1. Address .......................................................................................
2. Date when acquired by the company ............................................
3. Cost at which the property was acquired by the company as recorded in the
company’s records ...............................................
4. Cost of improvements as recorded in the company’s records ........
5. Deemed transfer value (3 + 4) ......................................................
6. Value of consideration payable by the transferee for the transfer...
7. Excess (if any) of the deemed transfer value (as in 5) over the consideration (as in 6)
.................................................................
I declare that the above information is correct and that I am authorised by the company to
sign this declaration.
Signed for and on behalf of the company by (name of officer) ................
Designation ....................................
Address .................................................................................................
Identity document  number ....................................
Signature .....................................
Date ...........................................
Part B
Declaration by Certified Public Auditor
I declare that the information given in Part A corresponds to the relevant records of
................................................................ for the financial years ending
.............................................. .
Signed by (name of Certified Public Auditor) ........................................
Address .................................................................................................
Signature ...............................................
Official Stamp ........................................
Date ......................................................
INCOME TAX AND DUTY ON DOCUMENTS AND 
TRANSFERS ON TRANSFERS OF DWELLING 
HOUSES TO SHAREHOLDERS EXEMPTION [ S.L.123.54 5
Part C
Declaration to be made and signed by an individual who is an officer of the company duly 
authorised for the purpose
To be made only in the case of an excess to which item 7 of Part A refers
I declare that the amount of ........................ is being accounted for by the company for the
purposes of the Income Tax Act as representing a dividend paid to .......................................
(the transferee) out of its untaxed account and that the company has undertaken to comply
with the provisions of article 59(5) and of article 62 and all the other provisions of that Act
relevant to the payment of a dividend out of its untaxed account.
Signed for and on behalf of the company by (name of officer) .........................................
Signature ...................................................
Date .........................................................
Part D
Description of shareholding and voting rights in the company
Declaration to be made and signed by an individual who is an officer of the company duly 
authorised for such purpose and by the transferee
(*)   Shares of a different class are to be indicated separately
Signed for and on behalf of the company by (name of officer) ................................
Signature .......................................
Name of transferee ..............................................................
Address .................................................................................................
Identity document number .....................................................................
Signature .............................................
Date ....................................................
Name of shareholder Number of 
shares held 
(*)
Nominal 
value of each 
share
Number of 
votes attached 
to each share
Any 
relationship 
to transferee
Total nominal 
value of 
shares held
Total share capital
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INCOME TAX AND DUTY ON DOCUMENTS AND 
TRANSFERS ON TRANSFERS OF DWELLING 
HOUSES TO SHAREHOLDERS EXEMPTION
Part E
Declaration relating to the residence
Declaration to be made and signed by an individual who is an officer of the company duly 
authorised for such purpose and by the transferee
We declare that on 20th November 2000 and up to today  .......................
............................... occupied the dwelling house in question as his/her/their sole ordinary
residence and that the said occupier/s is/are related to the transferee as follows:
...........................................................................
Signed for and on behalf of the company by (name of officer): .............................
Signature...................................
Name of transferee .................................................
Address .................................................................................................
Identity document number .......................................
Signature .......................................................
Date .............................
Part F
Declaration by Notary Public
I declare that the declarations in Parts A, B (where applicable), C and D have been signed in
my presence after that I, Notary, explained to the signatories the purport thereof and of the Tax
on Transfers of Dwelling Houses to Shareholders (Income Tax and Duty on Documents and
Transfers) Exemption Order.
Signed by (name of Notary Public) .............................................................
Address ........................................................................................................
Signature ..............................................
Official Stamp ......................................
Date ...................................
