Sports and Entertainment are two ever-growing
industries in Malta and issues cropping up in relation to them are effectively
catered for by a number of rules and regulations, including the Sports Act (Chapter
455 of the Laws of Malta) enacted in 2009. With respect to the Entertainment Industry,
Malta has not only ratified a Co-Production Treaty with Canada but it has also
entered into the European Convention on
Cinematographic Co-Production, by means of which Malta managed to effect a
number of bilateral Co-Production Treaties with the rest of the European Member
States, amongst others.
Malta is also a member of
the OECD Model Convention, by means of which it benefits from a tax structure,
whereby "income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an
entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artiste, or
a musician, or as a sportsman, from his personal activities as such exercised
in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State."
Furthermore, Malta’s
favourable tax regime furnishes professional sportsmen and entertainers with the
opportunity of having their income received in, or routed through Malta, in the
form of royalties.