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A presence in Malta › Working for a Maltese client

Office space for suppliers to Maltese clients

Reception, with the BUSINESSLABS ring cut into the desk front

When a client, or a public tender, wants to see you here

Maltese public tenders follow EU rules: to take part, you show you can do the work, and in a 2005 case the EU Court of Justice found that requiring an office at the time of tendering was clearly disproportionate. A tender or a client may still ask you to be reachable in Malta while the contract runs. BUSINESSLABS gives you a base here: a lease agreement for the use of space, a desk or an office for your team, and boardrooms for client meetings.

Tell us what you need
See the offices

Reception 08:00–17:00, Monday to Friday

What the rules say

What a tender, or a client, can ask of you

  1. Equal treatmentMaltese contracting authorities must treat bidders equally and without discrimination, and act in a transparent and proportionate way
  2. Taking partTo select bidders, a tender can only look at their suitability, economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability, in proportion to the contract
  3. An office when you bidIn a 2005 case, the EU Court of Justice found that requiring an office in the province when the tender is submitted was clearly disproportionate
  4. Conditions for the workA tender can set conditions for carrying out the contract, if they are linked to it, stated in the tender documents and not discriminatory
  5. Staff you sendA company from another EU or EEA country that posts its own staff to Malta notifies DIER before the posting starts; its contact person for collective bargaining need not be in Malta
  6. VAT on your invoicesFor most services to a business in Malta, the customer accounts for the VAT; a supplier not established here registers when it is the one liable

A summary for orientation, not legal advice. Every point carries its source and the date it was last checked.

Sources, and the last review

  1. DirectiveDirective 2014/24/EU on public procurement, articles 18, 58 and 70, and recital 104 ↗
  2. LawPublic Procurement Regulations (S.L. 601.03), regulations 39, 217 and 245 ↗
  3. Case lawCourt of Justice, Case C-234/03 Contse, 27 October 2005, paragraph 43 and the ruling ↗
  4. Case lawCourt of Justice, Case C-552/13 Grupo Hospitalario Quirón, 22 October 2015 ↗
  5. LawPosting of Workers in Malta Regulations (S.L. 452.82), regulation 6 ↗
  6. LawValue Added Tax Act (Cap. 406), articles 2(2), 10(4) and 20(2), and the Third Schedule, Part Two, item 2 ↗
  7. LawCouncil Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011, articles 10(3) and 11(1), on where a business is established ↗
  8. ReviewedChecked on 4 November 2026, the Department of Contracts' and the posted-workers pages from archived copies of their sites

How BUSINESSLABS covers it

What BUSINESSLABS gives you

  1. The leaseA lease agreement for the use of space in Birkirkara, dedicated or coworking, that you can use with regulators
  2. Your teamDedicated desks, or a private office with up to two access cards for 24/7, for the people who work on the contract
  3. Client meetingsBoardrooms for eight to thirty people, by the hour, for meetings with your client
  4. Reachable hereWith the lease, reception receives your post and couriers, 08:00–17:00, Monday to Friday, except public holidays, and we can set up a local line that rings straight through to you
Boardroom A, a timber table for eight with a screen on the wall

Questions

What people ask

The questions as people ask them, in search and to AI assistants.

Do I need an office in Malta to bid for a Maltese public tender?

We found no procurement rule that requires one to take part. Almost all tenders run online through etenders.gov.mt, and selection criteria must concern your ability to carry out the contract. In a 2005 case, the EU Court of Justice found that requiring an office at the time of tendering was clearly disproportionate. Check each tender's documents with your advisers.

Can a Maltese tender ask us to have an office in Malta once we win?

Possibly, as a condition for carrying out the contract: it must be linked to the contract, stated in the tender documents and not discriminatory. In 2015 the EU Court of Justice ruled against a requirement that hospital services be given only in one municipality, because it shut out bidders meeting every other condition. Ask your advisers before you bid.

Our Maltese client wants us to have a presence in Malta. Is that the law?

Not in the rules we checked: Maltese procurement, posting and VAT law do not require a foreign supplier to keep an office here. A private client can still make it a term of your contract, and some licensed activities have rules of their own. Read the contract with your advisers, and tell us what it asks for.

Do we need to tell DIER before sending staff to Malta for a contract?

Yes, if your company is in another EU or EEA country and posts its own staff here. You notify DIER online before the posting starts, name a person to deal with DIER and a contact person for collective bargaining, and keep the records at your Maltese client's premises. The contact person for collective bargaining need not be in Malta. Companies from elsewhere should ask their advisers.

Do we have to register for VAT in Malta to invoice a Maltese client?

Often not. Most services to a business are taxed where the customer is established, and a Maltese business customer accounts for the VAT. A supplier not established here must register, or use an EU special scheme, when it is the one liable for VAT on a supply in Malta, as with some sales to consumers. Ask your tax adviser.

Does an office in Malta make us established here for VAT?

It can. Under the VAT Act, a business is established where it has a fixed place from which it carries on its activity, and EU rules look for enough permanence, people and equipment. A postal address alone does not make a business established. Ask your tax adviser how an office here could affect your VAT and other taxes.

Can you give us a Maltese address for the contract?

We lease space, not addresses: desks and offices, with a lease agreement you can use with regulators. In Malta, providing a registered office or a correspondence address to a company is a company service that needs MFSA authorisation. With the lease, reception receives your post and couriers, and we can set up a local line that rings straight through to you.

The end of the line

Tell us what you need

We reply with the options that fit your contract and your team, and what they cost.

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