Cap. 325 Art. 11Export promotion allowance.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this article, where a qualifying company incurs or has incurred export promotion expenditure after 1st June, 1987 principally for the purpose of seeking opportunities or creating or increasing demand for the export of its goods or services, that company shall be entitled, in computing its total income for income tax purposes, to deduct an amount equivalent to one hundred and forty per cent of the expenditure so incurred.

(2) The deduction contemplated in subarticle (1) shall still be due notwithstanding that the relative expenditure -

(a) was incurred in opening or seeking to open new export lines or ventures; or

(b) does not achieve any export sales or increased export sales.

(3) The total deduction due for any year of assessment to a company under the provisions of this article shall not exceed €55,904.96 or a sum equivalent to five per cent of the total export

*1st January, 2002 - see Legal Notice 135 of 2001. sales of the company for that year, whichever sum is the higher.

(4) For the purposes of this article -

(a) export sales shall be taken to be the monetary value of export production calculated "free on board", or of the services exported;

(b) "export promotion expenditure" shall include, but not to the exclusion of other appropriate items, expenses incurred in:

(i) advertising or other means of securing publicity or soliciting business;

(ii) carrying out market research or obtaining market information;

(iii) providing free of charge samples or technical information to a person outside Malta;

(iv) investigating, preparing designs, making estimates and similar activities connected with tendering for the supply of goods or services;

(v) research into methods of packaging or presenting goods for export;

(vi) participation in trade fairs outside Malta;

(vii) cost of bringing potential buyers to Malta;

(c) "export promotion expenditure" shall not include salaries, wages and other similar emoluments except where these are paid to officers or employees of a company registered in Malta for the period or periods in any year during which they are required to tender their services outside Malta.

(5) With effect from such year of assessment as may be determined by the Minister by order in the Gazette*, the provisions of this article shall only be applicable to expenditure incurred in the year preceding that year of assessment and in the basis years in relation to the following three years of assessment.