How to Run Payroll in Malta: Employer Guide 2026

1. Before the first payday: registrations

Payroll in Malta runs on the Final Settlement System (FSS): the employer deducts tax and social security from each payment and passes it to the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA, formerly the Commissioner for Revenue). Before you pay anyone:

• Register as a payer with the MTCA. You receive a PE number, which identifies you on every FSS form.
• Notify Jobsplus of the engagement. Every new employee is registered with Jobsplus through an engagement form.
• Collect the employee's details: ID card or tax number, social security number, address, date of birth (it decides the SSC category) and their tax status (single, married or parent).
• Give a written contract or statement of terms with the wage, hours and leave entitlement. The 2026 national minimum wage for a full-time adult is €229.44 a week.
• Non-EU employees also need a valid single permit before they start. See our single permit employer guide.

2. Work out gross pay

Gross pay for the month is the basic wage plus anything else earned in the period:

• Basic wage (monthly, weekly or hourly × hours worked)
• Overtime, at least time and a half for hours beyond the normal week. Some overtime can be taxed at a flat 15% (see overtime rules)
• Allowances, commissions and other bonuses
• Statutory bonuses: €121.16 in March and September and €135.10 in June and December for a full-time employee, pro rata for part-timers and anyone who started during the period

Taxable fringe benefits, such as a company car used privately, are not cash but still count for tax and are reported separately on the FS5 and FS3.

3. Deduct income tax (FSS)

For a full-time employee you use the FSS Main method: the tax tables for the employee's status spread their yearly tax evenly over the year's pay periods. The 2026 single rates are:

Married and parent rates have wider 0% and 15% bands. All the tables are in our 2026 tax rates guide, and the salary calculator applies them for you. Part-timers with a full-time job elsewhere can opt for a final 10% or 15% tax on part-time income (the FSS Part-time method).

4. Class 1 SSC and the Maternity Fund

Social security is worked out per week, and a week counts in the month in which its Monday falls. That is why some months have four contributions and others five.

Low earners and under-18s pay fixed weekly rates, and people born before 1962 have a lower cap (€49.04). See SSC contributions explained for every category.

5. Pay the employee and issue a payslip

Net pay is gross pay minus tax and the employee's SSC. Every payment must come with a payslip showing at least the period, the gross wage and how it is made up (basic, overtime, bonuses), each deduction, and the net amount paid. Keep a copy: the payslips are what your FS5, FS3 and FS7 are built from.

6. Pay the MTCA with an FS5 every month

The FS5 (Payer's Monthly Payment Advice) reports the gross pay, tax, SSC and Maternity Fund for all wages paid in a month, and goes with the payment. It is due by the end of the following month, so wages paid in January are declared and paid by the end of February. A nil FS5 is still needed in a month with no payments while you are registered.

Box by box instructions are in how to fill in the FS5 form.

7. Year end: FS3 and FS7

After December you give every employee an FS3 (their statement of earnings for the year) and file an FS7 with copies of all FS3s. The FS7 must agree with the twelve FS5 payments you made. Both are due by 15 February of the following year. Read the FS3 and FS7 guide for the details.

8. Starters, leavers and records

• New starter mid-year: pro-rate the statutory bonuses and count SSC only from their first week.
• Leaver: pay the final wages, untaken leave and any pro-rata bonus, give them their FS3 when they leave, and file a termination form with Jobsplus.
• Records: keep payslips, timesheets and FSS forms. The MTCA can ask for them years later.

9. Payroll calendar at a glance

Malta Calculator does the monthly part for you: payslips with tax, SSC and Maternity Fund, the FS5 figures each month, and the FS3s and FS7 at year end.