VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The tax department will use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify hundreds of suspected tax evaders and investigate discrepancies between declared income, business turnover and major purchases.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said letters would be sent to “a couple of hundred” individuals in the coming weeks, asking them to explain apparent inconsistencies in their financial records.
The targets will include people reporting turnover of up to €1 million while declaring income close to or below the minimum wage.
Others include individuals with relatively low declared incomes who have purchased expensive assets, such as apartment blocks worth millions of euros.
Caruana said those unable to explain their purchases in light of their declared income would be encouraged to regularise their tax position.
Speaking at a pre-budget business breakfast hosted by the Times of Malta, the minister said a €60 million investment in IT was transforming the way government monitored revenue.
Caruana described the changes as a “silent revolution” and said AI was allowing tax officials to analyse the entire population rather than relying on samples.
He said the tax department was becoming more knowledgeable and agile and would continue ensuring that taxes due to the government were paid.
– Photo DOI –
(ITALPRESS).
