Services · Trusts & private foundations

Malta trust

Updated 6 October 2026

Malta is an EU country with its own trust law and supervision of trustees. We find a licensed trustee, agree the trust deed and model the tax before the trust is set up.

Malta is one of the few European Union countries with its own trust law. Trusts are set up under the Trusts and Trustees Act (Chapter 331 of the Laws of Malta), and professional trustees are licensed and supervised by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). That is why a Maltese trust suits families who want a trust in a European jurisdiction with clear supervision rather than a classic offshore centre.

A Maltese trust is used to pass wealth to children without splitting shares, to separate family assets from business risk and to hand management to a professional trustee. Below: who can act as trustee, what information about the trust is disclosed, how the trust is taxed and how it is set up.

Who manages the trust

Anyone resident or operating in or from Malta who receives property on trust as a trustee needs MFSA authorisation (Article 43 of the Trusts and Trustees Act). In practice this is a licensed trust company: it keeps the documents, accounts for the assets, carries out distribution decisions and answers to the regulator. The settlor can keep influence through a protector and a letter of wishes, but the assets legally pass to the trustee, otherwise the trust gives no protection.

Register of beneficial owners of trusts

Since 1 January 2018 the MFSA has kept a register of beneficial owners of trusts. A licensed trustee files a beneficial ownership declaration within 14 days of appointment for every trust that generates tax consequences. Amendments in 2025 extended this duty to private trustees acting on a non-professional basis, who had until 11 January 2026 to comply. The register is not public, but it is available to the authorities and to persons the law allows to access it, so a Maltese trust does not hide the owner from checks.

Taxes

A Maltese trust has a particular option: the trustee can elect for the trust's income to be taxed as income of a company ordinarily resident in Malta (Article 27D of the Income Tax Act and the trusts income tax regulations). A separate application is filed, after which the trust's return is made on the company form and signed by a trustee resident in Malta. This option is chosen when the trust holds assets that are better taxed under company rules. In the country where the settlor and beneficiaries live, the trust may be taxed under local rules, so we model the tax position before the trust is set up.

How the trust is set up

1. The task. Which assets go in, who the beneficiaries are, where they live, and whether an account is needed in Malta or elsewhere.
2. Choosing the trustee. We find a licensed trust company with experience in your type of assets.
3. Checks. The trustee verifies the settlor, the source of funds and the purpose of the trust, as anti-money laundering rules require.
4. Trust deed. We agree the deed: beneficiaries, protector powers, distribution rules, the right to change the trustee or the governing law.
5. Register and tax. The trustee files the beneficial ownership declaration within 14 days, and if needed we file the election to tax the trust as a company.
6. Asset transfer and administration. We transfer the assets, open accounts and run the trust: amendments, distributions, reporting and beneficiary questions.

Why trusts get refused

• Source of funds not proven. A licensed trustee will not accept assets without documents on where the capital came from.
• The settlor wants full control. If the assets are not genuinely transferred, the trust will not withstand a challenge by creditors or the tax authority.
• No clear tax model. The trustee wants to know in advance how the trust and distributions will be taxed in the beneficiaries' countries.

Who a Malta trust suits and who it does not

A Malta trust is chosen by families who need a trust under an EU country's own law, with supervision that European banks understand. It suits passing wealth to children without splitting shares, family companies and assets that must outlive the settlor. Conveniently, Malta also has private foundations, so the form can be chosen within one jurisdiction.

A Malta trust does not suit those seeking confidentiality: beneficiary information goes into a register available to the authorities. Nor will it help a Russian citizen without a European residence permit - more on that below.

Can a Russian citizen set up a trust in Malta in 2026

Malta applies EU sanctions. EU Regulation 833/2014 prohibits registering trusts and providing them with trustee, address and management services if a settlor or beneficiary is a Russian citizen or a person living in Russia. The ban does not apply to Russian citizens who hold the citizenship or a residence permit of an EU country, the European Economic Area or Switzerland. We check the status of each participant before drafting the deed.

Taxes for Russian tax residents

For a Russian tax resident, a Malta trust is a foreign structure without legal personality. The tax office must be notified of its establishment within 3 months, and a settlor who keeps control through a protector or letter of wishes may become a controlling person: the trust's profit is then taxed in Russia, and a controlled foreign company notification is filed every year. The Russia-Malta double tax treaty has been partly suspended since August 2023. We prepare notifications and reporting on the controlled foreign companies page.

Trust or foundation in Malta

A trust is an arrangement: the assets are held by a licensed trustee. A foundation is a legal person with a charter and a council that owns the assets itself and is entered in a register. A trust is more flexible in distributions and familiar to families from common law countries; a foundation is clearer to those used to companies. Compare on the Malta private foundation page and in the article trust or foundation: which to choose.

What it costs and how long it takes

The deed is drafted in a few days and the trustee files the beneficiary declaration within 14 days of appointment, but the whole process usually takes several weeks: checking the settlor and source of funds takes the longest.

What we do

We work through the task, check whether Malta fits or another jurisdiction is better, find a licensed trustee, agree the trust deed, support the checks and the asset transfer, and stay in touch for the life of the trust. The cost depends on the assets and the structure, so we quote it after a consultation and fix it in writing. If a legal entity suits you better than a trust, compare with a Maltese private foundation; island taxes are on our Malta taxes page, and trusts elsewhere in the trust jurisdictions overview.

What we do

• Trust establishment and maintenance

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