The Accountant – Issue 1 of 2021 (MIA Publication)

MITA has been supporting the digitalisation of the CfR office since 1994. during early 2000, several online services were made available, enabling citizens, businesses, and service providers to interact with the CfR office electronically. This article provides an overview of the most used Income tax and vat online services and which can be accessed through Cfr.gov.mt.

MyBalances: consolidates compliance information across Income Tax, VAT and FSS. It provides a snapshot of the taxpayers’ tax balances, including penalties and interests, missing returns and documents and pending refunds. One can also:

• generate the tax compliance certificate,
• pay any amounts due and
• create an instalment plan (individual taxpayers).

The service is currently available to tax representatives and access can be obtained by submitting a CFR02 with category ITA16.

Submission of Personal Income Tax Return: This service allows citizens and tax representatives to submit Personal Income Tax Returns online. It simplifies the return filing by pre-filling information available to the CfR such as employment income, FSS tax deducted, private independent school fees’ deduction and others. The system also calculates the tax due and any tax credits, and instantly generates a preview of the Income Tax statement. The service also allows end-users to generate a copy of the return, pay any balances due or provide the required direct credit payment details for refund payments.

MyAccount: This facility allows taxpayers or their tax representatives to enable:

• Electronic communication between the CfR office and taxpayers and
• Direct credit payment details for refunds via bank transfer.

This service is available to all citizens and sole-trader businesses or to users who have been granted ITA1 or VAT1 or ITA16 categories in taxation access manager portal.

Submission of CFR02 (Authority Forms): This service allows tax representatives to obtain instant access to the services authorised by their clients. Access to this service is available to all tax representatives’ authorised users. This service also allows tax representatives to view submitted CFR02s, save draft CFR02s and print copies for taxpayer endorsement.

Registration for VAT and FSS: This facility is available to all tax representatives. It has in-built controls to ensure accurate and correct submissions. VAT and PE number are received upon successful registration.

Modification of VAT and FSS Registration Information: This allows for the:

• de-activating a VAT Number or PE Number,
• re-activating a VAT Number or PE Number,
• change VAT Register Type,
• change, add or remove an economic activity,
• change of VAT mailing or business address,
• change of VAT Employment Type,
• change, add or remove a branch.

Tax representatives can get access to these services by submitting CFR02, categories VAT1 (for VAT), ITA2 (for FSS).

Payments Online: The CfR system supports two types of electronic payment channels: payments through the Government Payment Gateway (Card Payments) and the Internet Banking facilities of several local banks. Electronic payments are enabled using the payment reference found on CfR documents (e.g., tax statements, tax return) or within the respective CfR online services such as for Provisional tax and Company tax.

Electronic Non-Filer Statement: This allows citizens and tax representatives to view an electronic version of the non-filer statement, which is generated by the CfR system. This statement is based on information reported by several information providers and in-built calculations. One can also pay online any amount due or modify the statement by submitting an online Income Tax Return – a service mentioned earlier.

Submission of Recapitulative/Call-off-stock Statement: This allows businesses to submit the quarterly or monthly Recapitulative/Call-off-stock Statement electronically. Submission can be made either through an online form or uploading a data file. This service is applicable to those businesses involved in EU intra-community supplies. Tax representatives can have access to this service through the submission of CFR02, category VAT01.

Submission of Corporate Income Tax Return: The tax return is a spreadsheet which is personalised with information available by the CfR and can be completed offline before uploading it in the CfR system. Access to this service is obtained through the submission of CFR02 category ITA1.

View Provisional Tax (PT) Claims and Submission of PT Reduction Forms: Tax representatives can view taxpayers’ PT Claims and submit Provisional Tax (PT) reduction forms online. Service is available to users who have been granted ITA1 category.

Submission of FS7 and FS3 documents: This service allows the electronic submission of employers’ end of year documents, which is mandatory for employers with more than nine employees. This service supports two different types of submissions: the FSS e-filing spreadsheet or FSS data files upload, generated by employers’ payroll systems. In both cases, FSS data is validated in real-time providing an error list or acknowledging the correct submission. Employers or other general users can obtain access to this service through form CFR03. Tax representatives can obtain access to this service through form CFR02.

Submission of online FS5s: On submission of an FS5, a payment reference number is generated, allowing employers to proceed with the online payment, without the need of an e-ID. FS5s with zero values can only be submitted by e-ID authenticated and authorised users.

Submission of VAT Return, Declaration or Notice of Payment: This facility allows the online submission of VAT Returns, Register B’s VAT Declaration, or Register C’s VAT declaration, or notice of payment. Through this service one can also pay any amounts due online. The online return submission gives a 7-day extension both for the payment and the document. A utility function to calculate the VAT on declared sales or services is available. To assist in record-keeping, the acknowledgment includes a copy of the return or declaration.

Electronic cross-border VAT refund system: This service allows businesses to claim VAT incurred on qualifying expenditure in another EU Member State electronically. Also, it allows the monitoring of progress for each submitted application. Tax representatives can request access to this service through the submission of CFR02, category VAT2.

Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) related services: These are specialised VAT electronic services targeted at businesses that supply telecommunications, broadcasting, or other electronically supplied services to EU citizens. These services enable these businesses to be included in the MOSS\VOES Scheme and submit the respective quarterly MOSS returns and payments.

Electronic Tax Residence Certificate: Allows tax representatives to generate electronic tax residence certificates. This is available to users who have been granted ITA1 category.

Other services beyond the ones listed here are available. For further information refer to the CfR office portal. For issues experienced whilst using the system kindly contact ictservices.cfr@gov.mt.

 

Marvin Zammit is the Project Manager on the Taxation System within the Programme Management Department at MITA. He has more than 20 years experience within the taxation domain.