Malta zero-rates female sanitary products and cancer-care medical accessories

What changed in detail

Legal Notice 355 of 2024, the Value Added Tax Act (Amendment of Fifth Schedule) (Amendment No. 4) Regulations, 2024, was published in Government Gazette of Malta No. 21,362 on 17 December 2024 and came into force on 1 January 2025.

Regulation 2 adds two items after item 15 of Part One of the Fifth Schedule, the list of supplies exempt with credit:

• Item 16, “Products used for female sanitary protection”: the supply of products used for female sanitary protection.
• Item 17, “Medical items essential to compensate and overcome cancer in humans”: the supply of (a) mastectomy undergarments; (b) urinary incontinence management devices; (c) vacuum constriction devices; (d) scalp cooling systems; (e) absorbent incontinence care products; and (f) supportive medical undergarments.

Regulation 1(2) describes the effect as introducing “a zero (0) rate”. In Malta’s VAT Act, an exemption with credit means no VAT is charged and the supplier can still deduct input tax.

Female sanitary products had been taxed at 5% under item 4(f) of the Eighth Schedule. L.N. 354 of 2024, published the same day, deleted that entry.

What it means

Since 1 January 2025 these products carry no Maltese VAT, and suppliers keep their input-tax recovery. That is better for them than an ordinary exemption. Item 17 is a closed list. A cancer-care product that does not fit one of the six descriptions stays at its previous rate.

The companion notice that cleared the 5% entry is mt-womens-health-vat-5pct-removal-2024. As of November 2026 items 16 and 17 are still in force. Later Fifth Schedule notices, such as L.N. 86 of 2026 on gambling, amended other items.