A Maltese bureaucrat asks, kindly, "And your number?" and you hesitate, because you now have three: the number on your residence card, a social security number and a tax number. The tax number in Malta is the one that confuses new arrivals the most, because for many EU citizens it simply does not exist as a separate step.
Which numbers do you need in Malta?
Three numbers follow one another.
- The eResidence card number, issued by Identità when you register your residence (see our guide to the eResidence card).
- The social security number, issued by the Department of Social Security. You need it to work, and it is the number your employer uses to pay your contributions.
- The tax number, used by the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA, formerly the Commissioner for Revenue). For an EU citizen who already has a social security number, the MTCA says no separate request is needed.
How do you get your social security number?
It depends on how you arrive.
- You are an employee starting your first job in Malta. Do nothing yourself. Since July 2025 your employer sends a Jobsplus Engagement Form (Jobsplus is the public employment service). Your details go to the Department of Social Security, which issues your number automatically if you are entitled to one.
- You are self-employed. You fill in the Jobsplus engagement form yourself, and the number is issued in the same way.
- Your card number was not passed on, or you do not want a residence card. Apply for the number online with the Department of Social Security, or go to a Servizz.gov counter (the one-stop shop for state services).
For the online application as an EU citizen, you need a copy of your signed work contract or proof of your self-employed activity in Malta. You receive your registration certificate and your number by post, or by email if your address is on file. The Department publishes no deadline, so tell your employer early.
What about the tax number?
For an EU citizen with a social security number, you have nothing more to do. In other cases, the MTCA expects you to register as a taxpayer with the online Expatriates Taxpayer Registration form: retirees, people who live on their own means, non-EU nationals, and anyone without a social security number.
You will need your passport, your address in Malta, your date of arrival, the reason you are registering (work, retirement, own means), your Maltese card number if you have one, and the signed declaration to download from the MTCA site. A married couple living in Malta also supplies the marriage certificate and the spouse's residence declaration. Foreigners receive a nine-digit tax number.
What is the paper trail behind a tax number in Malta?
A foreigner's file is built in a fixed order, and knowing it saves you from knocking on the wrong door. Identità confirms who you are and where you live. The Department of Social Security records that you are insured and entitled to benefits and pensions. Jobsplus records that you work, and for whom. The MTCA reads that information and, for most employees, simply treats the social security number as your tax identifier. That is why an employee on a standard contract never fills in a tax form at the start: the employer's payroll deducts income tax at source under the final settlement system, and at year end the MTCA can send you a tax statement to check.
If you earn income that the MTCA does not already see, the picture changes. Rental income, self-employment, a foreign pension paid into a Maltese bank account or investment income all require a return and, in many cases, instalments of provisional tax. In those cases the tax number in Malta is still the same number, but you now have to use it on a return, not just on a payslip.
How do the documents and costs line up?
For the social security number as an EU employee or self-employed person you need a copy of your signed contract or proof of your activity. For expatriate tax registration you need your passport, your address, your arrival date, your reason for registering and the signed declaration. No fee is listed for either step. Keep a PDF of each certificate: banks, landlords and the electricity company will all ask for a number sooner or later, and the quickest answer is a document you can forward.
What does the 183-day rule mean for you?
The number is only the entry ticket. Whether Malta taxes you depends on your residence. If you stay more than 183 days in twelve months, you are taxed at resident rates; below that, you are taxed as a non-resident on your Maltese income. Moving to Malta to settle makes you a resident from the day you arrive, whatever the length of your first-year stay. The details, the 2026 rates and the special schemes are explained by the MTCA. This is a tax topic: if your situation is complex, see a Maltese tax adviser.
What are the typical mistakes with a tax number in Malta?
- Applying yourself when your employer should. For a first job, the request goes through the employer's Jobsplus form.
- Applying twice. An EU citizen with a social security number needs no extra tax number.
- Thinking your card number is enough. The ID card of a Maltese citizen doubles as a social security number; a foreigner's card number ending in "A" does not.
- Skipping your online account. Download the mySocialSecurity app or log in with your e-ID so your contact and bank details stay current.
What if you work for yourself or only in Malta part of the time?
Freelancers add a step: after the Jobsplus form, you register for VAT with the MTCA and start paying class 2 social security contributions. Our guide to working in Malta and the one on remote work in Malta explain the thresholds. If you keep an activity in your home country at the same time, European rules say you pay social contributions in only one country. Ask your home social security office which one is competent, and request the A1 certificate before you register in Malta. Non-EU nationals who only provide services in Malta without settling use a different form, the Non-Resident Registration, which you request from servizz@gov.mt.
How does it differ by nationality?
- EU and EEA citizens: the process above. Employers handle it for a first job; no separate tax number if you have a social security number.
- Swiss nationals: Identità treats you alongside Europeans, and EU coordination rules on social security apply to Switzerland. For a first job, the number should go through the employer's form as well. If you must apply online yourself, ask the Department which section to use.
- British nationals: treated as non-EU since Brexit. For a first job the number comes through the employer, but the online application asks for your work contract and your Employment Licence. Tax registration uses the MTCA form with the details of your employer or representative. See moving to Malta from the UK.