VAT charged on vaccines despite exemptions
Wednesday April 29, 2009
It has been revealed that the government of Malta is charging a VAT rate on medical vaccines, despite being given previous exemption.
The five per cent VAT rate is charged as vaccines are classed differently to other medicines, reports Malta Today.
Malta was granted a VAT exemption on medicine before its acceptance into the European Union, however vaccines go under a different classification, meaning they are subject to a five per cent VAT rate, according to the government.
A spokesperson for the finance ministry told the newspaper: "The imposition of VAT on vaccines results from pre-accession negotiations when Malta was requested to align itself with similar exemptions granted to other member states."
The newspaper contacted the European Commission and was told that Malta has "a derogation to apply zero rates on pharmaceuticals".
It was recently claimed the millions of euros have been lost over a period of years due to fraudulent actions by VAT department staff in Malta, the Times of Malta reported.