Self-Employed via a Company

Hi Chris,

self-employed just means that the company pays you without any extra costs for them and you  pay taxes,NI contributions yourself.

Important for the residency application is health insurance or entitlement and proof of income or finances. So you can show your contract for that.

Cheers
Ricky

Hi,

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.

In the UK normally they do the contract and you do the self employment part such as tax NI etc like you said. In the UK I can do it in my sleep, but here seems a little complicated.

My role is a commission only role and I guess the employer will set up a contract of work of such soon? The health insurance, would that be through NI contributions? or would I have to get separate health insurance?

Hi chris,

as self-employed you can pay NI contributions yourself or opt for private insurance. Private might even be cheaper if you are young and healthy.

It will depend on your health situation. Private health insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions for example. For residency purposes you only have to show that you are covered so you can compare.

If you hold a UK passport you are also covered through the Reciprocal Health Agreement and can apply for a certificate of entitlement.

Whether you get a contract for a commission only job will depend on the employer.

Cheers
Ricky

.

With regard to the reciprocal agreement, can I just add that this is only if you have paid two years of national insurance prior to coming to Malta, if you have missed even a month, you won't get it ! BUPA do health cover reasonably cheaply, 500 for a couple but most of all welcome to Malta and enjoy it for all it's quirks and frustration, it's sunny and not UK !!

depending on what you are doing .. you may not strictly be self employed and it could be just the company trying to get out of their obligations,
a seller of boat trips on commission based role for example who is only allowed to sell for one company and who is managed by the boat owners, as in hours etc.is not self employed despite their protests to the contrary.
Malta will not register you as self employed if they believe you not to be self employed,,,, I know of someone where the ETC caught them "working without being registered as self employed" but when they investigated they do not believe this person to be such and are trying to get the company to fill in a form of engagement but they (company) still claim your self employed if your working in such a role .

If your doing a similar role , it may be worth getting a bar job or waiting job part -time in order to get a contract and use this as your proof of employment for your application , you could then continue to do your other role ..

To be honest, been a SE here in Malta, it's not that complicated. You'll probably waste some time in queues and you'll knock few doors, but if you get the right information, it's quite straight forward. As said before, for e-Residence purposes, you'll need to get a work contract on your Maltese address before you can apply for it. As long as you state you'll be paying your social security contributions every 4 months, you'll be covered by the Maltese national health system. Other things you'll need to get too are: Register as Self-Employed at ETC, get a social security card (same day), tax and VAT number. If you get all these sorted, you're ready to go.