How to register as an employer in Malta, step by step
Before you can legally pay a first salary in Malta, three separate government registrations need to be in place. None of them are difficult on their own, but they involve different authorities, and missing one is the most common reason a first payroll run gets delayed. This is the order most businesses follow.
1. Register your business first
You need a registered legal entity or a registered self-employed/sole-trader status before you can register as an employer — a company through the Malta Business Registry, or a self-employed registration through the Commissioner for Revenue if you are trading as an individual. If this step is already done, skip ahead; if not, it has to happen before any of the payroll registrations below.
2. Get a PE number from Jobsplus
The PE (Persuna li Timpjega / employer) number is issued by Jobsplus, Malta's public employment agency, and it is the reference every future engagement and termination form will use. You register once, as a business, and reuse the same PE number for every employee you ever hire. Jobsplus also requires an engagement form to be submitted before an employee starts work, and a termination form when they leave — both are simple online submissions once the PE number exists.
3. Register for FSS with the Commissioner for Revenue
Income tax on employment income in Malta is collected through the Final Settlement System (FSS), a pay-as-you-earn scheme operated by the Commissioner for Revenue (formerly the Inland Revenue Department). As an employer you register as an FSS withholding agent, which obliges you to deduct tax and the employee's share of social security from every payslip and remit both monthly, along with your own employer social security contribution. Annual reconciliation happens through the FS7 return, and each employee receives an FS3 statement of their earnings and deductions for the year.
4. Confirm your social security setup
Class 1 social security contributions are collected through the same FSS payroll process rather than a separate registration, but it is worth confirming your payroll software or accountant is applying the correct employer and employee rates from day one — both currently 10% of the basic weekly wage, subject to the weekly ceiling. The employee cost calculator on this site applies the same 2026 rates so you can sanity-check a payroll run.
5. Put the employment contract in writing
Maltese law requires the core terms of employment to be given to the employee in writing before, or within a short statutory window of, their start date — including job title, salary, working hours, leave entitlement and notice periods. A verbal agreement or an informal email is not sufficient on its own. If you are hiring for the first time, it is worth having a locally-drafted template reviewed once rather than reusing a generic contract written for another jurisdiction.
6. Check for a sector-specific Wage Regulation Order
Certain industries in Malta — hospitality, retail, private security and a number of others — are covered by their own Wage Regulation Order (WRO), which can set minimum pay, allowances and conditions above the general national minimum wage. Before finalising a salary offer, check whether your sector has an applicable WRO; if it does, that sets your real floor, not the general minimum wage covered in the minimum wage guide.
First-hire checklist
- Business/self-employed registration completed
- PE number obtained from Jobsplus
- FSS registration completed with the Commissioner for Revenue
- Sector checked for an applicable Wage Regulation Order
- Written contract prepared and signed before the start date
- Engagement form submitted to Jobsplus
- Payroll cost modelled with the Malta employee cost calculator
- First month's FSS deductions and remittance scheduled
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an accountant to run payroll in Malta?
It is not a legal requirement for very small setups, but most employers use an accountant or payroll bureau once they have even one employee, because FSS, social security and FS3/FS7 reporting have to be done correctly every month and the penalties for errors accumulate.
How long does registration take?
Business registration and the PE number can typically be arranged within a few working days if all documents are in order. FSS registration timing depends on the Commissioner for Revenue's current processing times — start both processes as early as possible before a planned start date.
Can I hire someone before the registrations are complete?
No. The PE number and FSS registration should be in place before an employee's first day, since the engagement form and the first payroll deduction both depend on them.
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