⚠️  The tax information below is an extremely brief summary for standard situations of the referred relationship, and each situation may of course be different from the norm and have its own specificities. ⚠️

A more comprehensive set of information for this country and work relationship is available on Easop.

If you’re looking for more detailed information in this country (or if you are just curious about our global compliance offering and pricing), get in touch with us and we’ll tell you more about it! 💡

✅ Yes, you can grant non-qualified stock-options (NSO) to contractors in Malta.

Note that granting stock options to contractors could increase the misclassification risk (i.e. the contractor relationship being requalified as an employer-employee relationship, with all tax consequences that can go with it). This will never be the only factor though, what counts primarily for determining the degree of misclassification risk are factors relating to the modalities of the services performed (control over the contractor’s work, exclusivity, term of the services, etc.).

In a nutshell, what does taxation look like?

Generally, taxation is not entirely clear as stock options have been initially regulated for employees only, and taxation often depends on the legal form chosen by the contractor to perform its activities.

• At grant 👉 No taxation.
  
  
• At exercise 👉 Spread likely to be taxed as income subject to income tax.
  
  
• At sale 👉 Capital gain likely to be taxed as income subject to income tax.