Leaving Malta: notice, the last payslip, tax, your contribution record, and the flat

Leaving well takes a month of paperwork and saves you money and trouble for years. Notice, the final pay, the tax reconciliation, the social security record and the lease each have a rule. Do them in this order and nothing follows you home.

1. Notice

After probation, notice runs by length of service: one week up to six months, two weeks up to two years, four weeks up to four years, eight weeks up to seven years, then a week more per year to twelve. During probation, one week after the first month. In writing, dated, keep a copy. An employer who wants you gone faster pays the notice in lieu; an employer who wants you to leave without notice is saving money at your expense. If you are leaving the job but not the island, changing jobs, probation and notice have their own page.

2. The final pay

Must include: salary to the last day, overtime, the pro-rata statutory bonus for the period, and payment for any unused vacation leave. DIER states that on termination an employee has the right to claim compensation for the balance of leave due. Check the last payslip against your leave record. Short? DIER on 1575, before you fly; it is harder from abroad.

3. Jobsplus and Identità

Your employer files the termination form with Jobsplus. Ask for the confirmation; it fixes the date your grace period starts if you are on a Single Permit. If you are leaving Malta for good, tell Identità and return the card as they instruct. If you are leaving for another EU job, ask Identità what your card still entitles you to; it is tied to Malta.

4. Tax

The tax year is the calendar year, and your deductions were calculated as if you worked the whole of it. Leaving in June often means tax over-deducted against the annual bands. Get the FS3 for the year from your employer, file the return the tax administration asks for, and give a foreign address and bank account for any refund. Nothing is refunded automatically. Tax correctly paid is not refunded at all. How PAYE, the bands and the FS3 work is on its own page.

5. Social security

Your paid weeks are recorded. Keep your social security number and ask the Department of Social Security for a contribution statement before you go. Whether the weeks count at home depends on an agreement between Malta and your country; the department lists them. Even without one, the record matters if you return to Malta or to another EU country.

6. The flat

A one-year lease has a six-month lock-in and then one month’s notice from you by registered mail; two months for a two-year lease; three for three years. Give it on time or you owe the rent. Photograph every room on the last day, hand over keys against a signed receipt, and ask for the deposit back in writing with your bank details. A landlord who keeps a deposit for “cleaning” without evidence can be taken to the Housing Authority’s Adjudicating Panel, and that works from abroad with a friend’s help, but it works better before you leave. Deposit, notice and the Adjudicating Panel are on the housing rights page.

7. The rest

• Close or keep the bank account; keeping it open is useful for the refund and the deposit.
• Cancel the phone contract and any gym or subscription in writing.
• Tell the health centre and keep your medical records.
• Download every payslip, FS3, contract and statement. Two copies.

If you are leaving because of the employer

Read the unpaid-or-underpaid guide first. A complaint to DIER can be lodged before you leave and pursued after, and the authorities can bar an employer who breached your rights from hiring non-EU workers. Your leaving is not their escape.

Check this at the source

• DIER, notice period. https://dier.gov.mt/en/services/employment-conditions/termination-of-employment/notice-period/
• DIER, vacation leave: compensation for unused leave at termination. https://dier.gov.mt/en/services/employment-conditions/leave/vacation-leave/
• Malta Tax and Customs Administration: returns and refunds. https://mtca.gov.mt/
• Department of Social Security: contribution records and agreements. https://socialsecurity.gov.mt/
• Housing Authority FAQ: notice periods and deposits. https://housingauthority.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FAQ-English-with-template.pdf