SME Chamber presents 40 Budget 2027 proposals, calls for productivity-driven budget and cross-party taskforce on Malta’s National priorities

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has presented 40 proposals for Budget 2027 during a meeting at Auberge de Castille with Prime Minister Robert Abela and several cabinet members, including the Minister for Finance Hon. Clyde Caruana ahead of the 2027 Budget.

One of the Chamber of SMEs main proposals includes the formation of cross-party taskforce on Malta’s long-term priorities, recognising that some of the decisions Malta needs to take will inevitably be difficult and at times, unpopular with the general public.

The purpose of such a forum would be to allow Government, Opposition and key stakeholders to collectively confront these difficult choices and agree on a long-term direction, without any political party being placed in a position where it can gain an electoral advantage by supporting or opposing necessary reforms.

By creating a shared framework for these decisions, the taskforce would help prevent important national issues from becoming political topics, where the fear of losing popularity ultimately leads to inaction.

Malta needs a mechanism that allows difficult but necessary decisions to be taken in the national interest, rather than decisions being avoided simply because they are politically inconvenient.

The proposals are built around five key pillars:

1. Incentivising Investment & Compliance

Reduce the corporate tax rate to 25%, introduce a 15% deferred tax rate on retained and reinvested SME profits, improve cash-flow measures and reward businesses that

remain compliant and invest in growth, technology and their workforce.

2. Proportionality, Good Governance & Fair Competition

Strengthen enforcement against unfair competition, make public procurement more accessible to SMEs, establish stronger independent procurement oversight and

ensure regulation reflects the size and capacity of smaller businesses.

3. A Productivity-Driven Policy

Introduce a mandatory SME Test, undertake a regulatory stocktake, expand the Once-Only principle through a digital Business Account, establish a TCN recruitment one-stop shop and launch a Productivity Tech Kit to help SMEs digitalise and automate.

4. Energy & Resource Efficiency

Help businesses turn energy audits into investment, support commercial energy storage, improve access to the electricity grid, establish a renewable-energy one-stopshop and reintroduce an ESG Grant.

5. Transport & Mobility

Reduce the productivity cost of congestion through smarter mobility incentives, better multimodal transport, off-peak vehicle registration, more efficient waste collection and logistics and stronger freight connectivity for Gozo.

The overarching message of the Budget proposals is clear: Malta must move from a growth model based primarily on more people, more journeys and more resources, towards one that delivers more value from every hour worked, every euro invested and every unit of energy and land used.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs is calling for Budget 2027 to put SME productivity at the centre of Malta’s next phase of economic development.

In the coming weeks the SME Chamber will be presenting its Budget proposals to the opposition and other key stakeholders.