Malta
countryMalta charges no capital gains tax on long-held personal crypto treated as capital, while trading activity is taxed as income at up to 35% — and the line between the two is decided case by case. Non-domiciled residents are taxed only on remitted income. EU membership brings MiCA clarity and CARF reporting from 2026; the golden-passport program was struck down by the EU court in April 2025.
Bitcoin tax treatment
Disposals of long-held personal crypto treated as capital are not subject to capital gains tax, while trading or business activity is taxed as income at up to 35%; non-domiciled residents are taxed on a remittance basis, so unremitted foreign gains stay untaxed.
territorial taxation: no
Getting in
Residency: The Malta Permanent Residence Programme requires roughly €150K+ across government contributions, fees, and property commitments; EU citizens can take ordinary residence with non-dom tax status far more cheaply.
Citizenship: The citizenship-by-investment scheme was ruled illegal by the EU Court of Justice in April 2025; what remains is discretionary merit-based naturalization or the standard long-residence route.
Regime stability — the honest note
Malta already lost its flagship golden-passport program to an EU court ruling in 2025 — anything Brussels dislikes here has a ceiling, and the investment-versus-trading line is decided case by case.
Verified 2026-06-12. Tax law is paper, not bedrock — verify against primary sources before moving anything that matters. This is not tax or legal advice.