Grants & funding · Micro Invest

Micro Invest 2026-2030:
the complete guide
for Malta businesses.

Micro Invest is Malta Enterprise’s tax credit for businesses with 1 to 50 employees. It covers up to 65% of eligible costs, or 85% in Gozo, including websites, software and digital systems. Applications for money you spend in 2026 open on 1 January 2027. Here is who qualifies, what counts, and exactly how to apply.

By Johnny MPublished 13 November 202611 min read

Plan a Micro Invest project

Micro Invest 2026 to 2030 at a glance: tax credit up to 65%, 85% in Gozo, €65,000 cap over three years, applications from 1 January 2027

Up to 65%85% for Gozo businesses

Micro Invest, answered

What is Micro Invest and how do you apply?

Answer: Micro Invest 2026-2030 is a Malta Enterprise tax credit of up to 65% of eligible costs (85% for businesses operating from Gozo), capped at €65,000 per applicant over three years. It is open to businesses and self-employed people with 1 to 50 employees. You apply on the Malta Enterprise client portal from 1 January 2027 for costs paid in 2026, once a year. With a CPA following the official procedures, processing takes about four weeks. Without one, at least six months.

Key takeaways

When can I apply for Micro Invest 2026-2030? From 1 January 2027, on the Malta Enterprise client portal. That first round covers costs paid in 2026. After that you can apply once a year, grouping up to three calendar years of costs.
Can I claim a website under Micro Invest? Yes, development and customisation of websites is a listed cost. You need an agreement signed before work starts that lists the functionality, an invoice of at least €500 before VAT that describes the work, and proof of payment.
How much is the Micro Invest tax credit? Up to 65% of eligible costs, or 85% for businesses operating from Gozo. The cap is €65,000 per applicant over three years, plus €20,000 for Gozo businesses, registered family businesses, female-owned businesses and social enterprises.

The short version

Micro Invest in one table.

Micro Invest has been around for years, but the 2026 to 2030 version is a new scheme with new rules. It came into force on 1 January 2026 and covers costs from that date. The table below is taken from the official guidelines and the scheme page, and every row links to its source.

Micro Invest 2026 to 2030: the key facts
	What the rules say	Source
Run by	Malta Enterprise. Questions go to Business First on 144 or info@businessfirst.com.mt.	Guidelines, contacts
Type of support	A tax credit, not cash. It reduces the tax your business pays.	Scheme page
Who can apply	Businesses with at least 1 and no more than 50 full-time employees, including the self-employed registered with Jobsplus. VAT registration is needed unless you are exempt.	Guidelines 3.1
How much	Up to 65% of eligible costs. Up to 85% for businesses operating from Gozo.	Guidelines 3.2
Cap per applicant	€65,000 over any three years. Plus €20,000 if you operate from Gozo, are a registered family business, a female-owned business or a social enterprise.	Guidelines 3.3
De minimis limit	All de minimis aid to your group of linked businesses must stay within €300,000 over three years.	Guidelines 5
Eligible costs	Higher wage costs, new tangible assets, refurbishment of business premises and digital solutions, including websites and software.	Guidelines 4
Smallest invoice	€500 excluding VAT. VAT and import duties are never counted.	Guidelines 4.2
When to apply	From 1 January 2027 for 2026 costs. One application a year, covering up to three calendar years. The scheme ends on 31 December 2030.	Scheme page · Guidelines 1.2, 1.3
Processing time	About 4 weeks when a CPA prepares it under the official procedures. At least 6 months otherwise.	Guidelines 1.3
Where to apply	The Malta Enterprise client portal. First-time users register first.	Scheme page

Two things trip people up. First, it is a tax credit, so it is worth most to a business that pays tax. It cannot be paid out as a refund or used to settle tax arrears (Guidelines 4.3). Second, it is claimed after you spend, so the invoices, payments and paperwork have to be right from day one.

Eligible costs

What you can claim.

The guidelines list four groups of costs. Only the costs named there count (Guidelines 4).

Higher wage costs. The increase in your total wage bill compared with an earlier year, if it is more than €5,000. There is also a top-up for pay rises in 2026 and 2027 of at least 3% a year for staff employed with you for more than four years, up to €780 per employee a year in Malta and €1,020 in Gozo. A CPA must review every wage claim.
New tangible assets. Machinery, digital equipment, furniture, signage and show windows, doors and windows, and some vehicles and vessels for the right kind of business. Phones, tablets and laptops are limited to one of each per full-time employee.
Refurbishing business premises. Structural and finishing works, backed by a bill of quantities certified by a warranted perit.
Digital solutions. Packaged software, set-up of software as a service with the first 12 months of licence fees, development and customisation of software systems, websites and digital applications, and accessibility work on websites certified by FITA. Maintenance and hosting linked to a new solution also count.

What does not count: VAT and import duties, invoices under €500 before VAT, renewals of subscriptions, hosting and maintenance on their own, systems that produce alternative energy, and any cost that another public scheme already paid for, even in part. Malta Enterprise recovers aid with interest if a cost is funded twice (Guidelines 4.3).

Websites and software

The rule most people miss.

For a website, software system or app, Micro Invest asks for something many businesses only think about afterwards: an agreement signed before the work starts, listing the functionality that will be built (Guidelines 4.2.3). The accountants’ procedures repeat it and add three more checks: an invoice that clearly describes the work, a VAT number on the invoice that matches yours, and a signed declaration that the system is used only for your business (agreed-upon procedures 36).

So the order matters. Agree the scope in writing, sign it, then start. A quote sent by WhatsApp and a single invoice that says “website” will make the claim harder.

Here is how it can work. Say a café in Mosta with six staff pays €9,000 in 2026 for a new website with online ordering and a stock system, with the functions listed in a signed agreement before work began. If all of it is accepted, 65% gives a tax credit of €5,850. The same café in Gozo, at 85%, would get €7,650. The credit is set against the tax the business pays, so your accountant should check how much you can use each year.

For software as a service, only the set-up and the first 12 months of a new subscription count, and you need proof it is your first subscription. Renewals never count (agreed-upon procedures 35).

Step by step

How to apply on the client portal.

You apply online on the Malta Enterprise client portal. Applications for 2026 costs open on 1 January 2027, and the portal will be made available then (scheme page). These are the steps in the client portal’s own Micro Invest manual (client portal user manual). The screens for the 2026 to 2030 scheme may look a little different when it opens.

Register your personal account. On the Malta Enterprise client portal, the person who will manage the application signs up first.
Register or link your business account. Create the business account from your personal account, or ask the business to add you. The legal representative must be able to sign.
Create a new Micro Invest application. In the business account, press New Application and choose Micro Invest. If your accountant will handle it, tick the third-party box and enter their business token.
Fill in the basic fields and save. Business details, activity and contact person. You can save and come back later.
List linked businesses and de minimis aid. Name every business in your single undertaking, then enter any de minimis aid received or applied for in the last three years.
Add each cost as a transaction. One transaction per invoice, with the amount excluding VAT and the uploads the portal asks for. Mark the ones your CPA will verify.
Sign and upload the de minimis declaration. Print it from the portal, have the legal representative sign it, scan it and upload it.
Sign and upload the Micro Invest declaration. Print it, have your CPA sign the transactions they verified, have the legal representative sign it, then upload it.
Tick the terms and submit. Once submitted, you cannot edit the application, so check every upload first. Malta Enterprise then reviews it and, if it is approved, issues a Tax Credit Certificate.

Before you press submit, check five things: every field is filled, every linked business is listed, every transaction is saved with its uploads, both declarations are signed and uploaded, and nothing else the portal asks for is missing.

Planning a website or system you may claim under Micro Invest?

The agreement has to be signed before work starts. Send us what you need and we will write the functionality down and quote it item by item.

Plan a Micro Invest project

CPA route

A CPA gets it done in about four weeks.

The biggest change in the new scheme is speed. Malta Enterprise and the Malta Institute of Accountants agreed a set of procedures that a CPA follows before signing the application. Applications completed this way are processed within four weeks. Applications not completed by a CPA, or only partly, take at least six months (Guidelines 1.3, agreed-upon procedures).

CPA route or applying on your own
	With a CPA (accelerated route)	Without a CPA
Processing time	Within 4 weeks of submission	At least 6 months
To have the certificate by 30 November	Submit by 30 October	Submit by 30 May
Wage cost claims	Required: a CPA must review them	Not possible without a CPA
What the CPA checks	Eligibility, invoices, VAT numbers, payments, signed agreements, asset ledger, Gozo or female-owned status	Malta Enterprise checks everything itself

For most businesses the CPA route is the sensible one, and for wage claims it is required. The CPA checks your eligibility, every invoice and payment, the VAT numbers, the signed agreements for software and websites, and any Gozo or female-owned status. You stay responsible for what the application says.

Documents

What to keep ready.

Keep these together from the first invoice. You must keep the records for ten years after the certificate is issued (Guidelines 4.3).

Your VAT certificate, with the NACE code for your activity.
Employment records from Jobsplus showing 1 to 50 full-time employees.
Tax invoices or fiscal receipts of at least €500 each before VAT, in the name of the business, with its VAT number.
Proof that each invoice has been paid, or is tied to a binding payment commitment.
For websites and software: the agreement signed before work started, listing the functionality.
A ledger or register of the assets you claim.
The de minimis declaration, listing other de minimis aid in the last three years.
The signed Micro Invest declaration.
For refurbishment: the bill of quantities certified by a warranted perit.
For the extra €20,000: your Gozo registered and operating addresses, Family Business or Social Enterprise certificate, or shareholding records for a female-owned business.

Costs from 2025

Spent money in 2025? Watch 25 November 2026.

The 2026 to 2030 scheme only covers costs from 1 January 2026. Costs from 2025 belong to the previous scheme, Micro Invest 2024. Malta Enterprise lists 25 November 2026 as the late submission date for 2025 costs, with the certificate usable from the 2027 year of assessment (MicroInvest 2024 page).

If you bought equipment, software or a website in 2025 and have not claimed it, speak to your accountant this week. The older scheme has its own guidelines and conditions, so check them before you count on the credit.

Compare

Micro Invest or another scheme?

You cannot claim the same cost twice, but you can use different schemes for different costs (Guidelines 5.2). This is how they fit together for a digital project.

Which scheme fits your project?
Your project	Best first look	Why
A website, online shop or booking system up to about €50,000	Micro Invest	Websites and software are listed costs, the rate is up to 65%, and you claim after you pay.
A digital or AI project of €50,000 or more, not started yet	Digitalise your SME	A cash grant, with cut-offs on 30 November and 14 December 2026. Work cannot start before the grant agreement.
Automation or AI in a bigger investment	The planned 60% tax credit	Planned in Budget 2027. Projects may qualify once the official rules are published, and we check fit with you.
A new site, production line or new line of business	INVEST	A six-month extension was announced. Malta Enterprise has not yet published new dates or reopened applications.

For the full list of schemes and dates, see our guide to business grants in Malta, and for the latest budget measures, what Budget 2027 means for businesses going digital.

How we help

Where Malta Digital fits.

Malta Digital builds the websites, software and systems Micro Invest lists as eligible costs. We are a private company, not Malta Enterprise, and we do not decide eligibility. That stays with Malta Enterprise. Your accountant prepares and signs the application.

What we do: we write the functionality into a clear agreement before any work starts, and we issue itemised invoices that describe each part of the work, so your CPA has what the procedures ask for.

Websites. Our web design service in Malta starts with the Professional Website at €990, complete in 24 to 48 hours. The Business Website takes 2 to 4 days, the Growth Website 7 days, and the 24-Hour Premium Website is ready in 24 hours.

Systems and CRM. Custom business systems and CRM systems from €7,500, with the first working version of a custom system in 2 to 4 weeks.

AI and automation. AI automation that takes repetitive work off your team, scoped in writing before we start.

Tell us what you want to build. We have 18 Google reviews, and we reply to every enquiry by email.

A few straight answers

What you might be wondering.

When can I apply for Micro Invest 2026-2030?

From 1 January 2027, on the Malta Enterprise client portal. That first round covers costs paid in 2026. After that you can apply once a year, grouping up to three calendar years of costs.

Can I claim a website under Micro Invest?

Yes, development and customisation of websites is a listed cost. You need an agreement signed before work starts that lists the functionality, an invoice of at least €500 before VAT that describes the work, and proof of payment.

How much is the Micro Invest tax credit?

Up to 65% of eligible costs, or 85% for businesses operating from Gozo. The cap is €65,000 per applicant over three years, plus €20,000 for Gozo businesses, registered family businesses, female-owned businesses and social enterprises.

Who is eligible for Micro Invest?

Businesses with at least 1 and no more than 50 full-time employees, including the self-employed registered with Jobsplus, that are VAT registered unless exempt and can receive de minimis aid. Some farming and fishing activities are excluded.

Do I need an accountant to apply for Micro Invest?

Not always, but it is much faster. A CPA following the official procedures gets the application processed in about four weeks. Without one it takes at least six months. A CPA must always review wage cost claims.

Is Micro Invest a cash grant?

No. It is a tax credit that reduces the tax your business pays. It cannot be refunded as cash or used to pay tax arrears.

Can I claim 2025 costs?

Not under the 2026-2030 scheme. Costs from 2025 fall under Micro Invest 2024, which lists 25 November 2026 as its late submission date for 2025 costs.

Can I use Micro Invest and Digitalise your SME together?

Not for the same cost. A cost already supported by another public scheme, even in part, cannot be claimed again. Different costs in the same business can go to different schemes.

Sources

Where these facts come from.

Malta Digital is a private company, not a government body. This guide summarises the official Micro Invest documents and is not tax advice. Your accountant and Malta Enterprise have the final word on any claim.

A useful first step

Plan a project that is ready to claim.

Tell us what you want to build. We’ll put the functionality in writing before work starts and give you a clear, itemised quotation. You and your accountant handle the claim, and Malta Enterprise decides it.