How are dividends from a Maltese company I own shares in taxed?

Malta operates a full imputation system for company taxation under the Income Tax Act, Chapter 123 of the Laws of Malta, which is specifically designed to prevent economic double taxation of the same profits, first at the company level when the company itself pays corporate tax, and then again at the shareholder level when dividends are distributed, meaning the tax already paid by the company is generally imputed, or credited, to you as the shareholder receiving the dividend, which can significantly reduce or in some cases eliminate further tax payable by you personally on that dividend income, depending on the specific tax rates involved and your own personal tax position. The precise mechanics of how this imputation credit applies to your specific dividend, and how it interacts with your overall personal tax position and applicable tax rate, involves genuine technical calculation that depends on factors including the company's own tax rate and the specific type of income the underlying profits derived from, meaning simply assuming dividends are either fully tax-free or fully taxable without understanding this imputation mechanism could lead to an incorrect view of your actual position. Given the genuine technical complexity of Malta's imputation system and how it applies to your specific dividend income, it would be worth consulting an accountant to properly calculate your actual tax position on these dividends rather than relying on general assumptions.