Sounds like you got scammed tbh :P

What did you pay Iggy? I been reading on the expat Malta forum of these kind of ridiculous deposits as well. They also make it very difficult to get that deposit back.

People might find this interesting, however knowing how lazy we pokerplayers are I doubt anyone will actually go and get a Maltese ID card. From what I can see it is free and requires 2 trips to Valleta but once you get that card it has several advantages. Here's a link http://www.howtomalta.com/2011/12/how-to-get-i.html. From my understanding we will be able to get our deposits back from the isp providers as well.

It's been like a year so I can't exactly remember but I think it was around 70€ which is a deposit for the router.

Getting id card is easy but since i drive a baller car with foreign plates tis card hurts me moar than it helps... for everybody witout a car teh card makes sense though...

I am considering bringing my car over, this seems like a bit of a hassle tbh. The drive alone is redic long, would be able to bring quite a few things over tho. Dilemma's dilemma's!!!

I think I seen some1 post that was in the St Paul's area, are there any more. I am seriously contemplating moving over. Seen some real nice apartments online. Anyone care to inform me about St Paul's area? Peaceful/layed back? Touristy? Sandy (or rocky) Beaches? Nightlife? Daytime activities? Gym?Casino? Other stuff I have not mentioned always welcome.

Sorry if these seem like stupid questions, but I really want to have as clear a picture as possible before I wing it lol. I might actually come over for a week or so and check out several towns etc, this will give a much better idea I think.

Anyone living in a baller house or flat with 2 or 3 mates?

Looking for a room, 2nd half of the year, maybe august.
Trying to find out if what im looking for really exists or if i have to live alone ;-)

check this out, man:

By the way, I am living in Pender Gardens (St Julians) now and Matt from Dhalia said that some poker players live there. Do you know who? Maybe someone who is active in Malta chatter thread?

A lot of dutch poker players live in Pender Gardens

Do you guys know some good clubs in StJ? I go almost always to Hugos in PV but its not so good in winter...

In winter nothing is good. Check out places and sabor

How did you guys get your apartment? Did you go over and stay in hotel for few days until you found something? Or do I need to make appointments with several estate companies beforehand?

Its very straight forward to move into an apartment.. its all a matter of preference really.. you can either be picked up from the airport , shown around properties and move into one you choose right away, or you can book a night or two in a hotel just to be safe.

most estate agent have the same properties in Malta so you will be viewing alot of properties twice and three times with different agents.

you can pm me on mabar@dhalia.com and ill explain more in detail for you..

take care

I have asked the Inland Revenue Department whether poker winnings are taxable or not, and linked the case that was posted here (http://www.ird.gov.mt/v1/cases/bsc/1956/case/bsc34.asp). They have replied today:

"Good afternoon



Fully taxable in Malta.



Regards"

Since there was some discussion going on regarding ordering stuff from Ikea earlier in the thread, this might help out a few ppl: http://holland-malta.com/

Credits go to one of my facebook friends who posted the link there.

Basically it's a service that ship Ikea orders from holland to malta, about 4 times a month depending on the orders.

It's not very clever to make them aware of teh issue bc teh only thing u might accomplish is wake up sleeping dogs... None of them will have any real wisdom of tis issue (bc its malta and nobody has a clue about anything anyways) and if u ask them straight up they will obv say yes bc they want to make money.

Tis whole tax bs wouldve never went as big as it is in germany for example if people not were wetting their pants over and over and writing teh authorities until they realized there is some srs money to be made...

hi there I arrived in malta a few days ago and after some help from this thread i´ll do a short report that might help others now.

-to begin with don´t bother with real estates adds cause once you get there it will be about same same but different.
best advice is talking to one or 2 agents and giving them a short list of flats you like so they have an idea what makes you visit.

-bought 5 nights in a hotel for about 50€ through a booking portal (compare hotel rates and booking com for final booker).
wasn´t sure I would ever see the room for that price but no scam there,pretty cheap rates during winter here.

-on top of the rent it seems standard to have a flat fee for electricity and water that is adjusted every few months or whatever and difference is paid back or for.
_internet got installed 2h after I entered in the flat and the guy pulled the fibre cable from outsite and even dug a hole in the whole and it was like standard stuff.took like 30 min and got 25mbs for 40€ month i think.

-agencies fees are about half a month and one month deposit is asked.

-been asked for one year minimum long let contract and refused and picked a flat with 6 months mini.

Funny things around here welcome to malta:
-pay 8€ at airport for transfer give 20€ get 4€ back then a sorry.
-driver looked like this :

had a broken hand and couldnt read the paper infos (pray in the car)
-everyone wanna help you,knows someone or has a plan...now to see effective results I´m not sure of that.
-you can´t drink tap water,prepare to lift some gallons.
-cigarettes are super cheap.
-it´s windy,a lot.

finally I chose not to live in st julian like majority of people in this thread swear by and Ive settled in st pauls bay.
there´s a lot of shops here too (I thought it was completely dead),it´s way cheaper and quieter (also it´s not that far from st julian if u really want to go out once in a while,it´s by no means worse than crossing berlin or paris).

Ive been to the portomaso casino,it was pretty cool,1/2 and 2/5 NLH and small mtts every nights but obv not very crowded during winter.
might go back someday but for now I´ll have to grind.

cheers

Vedast what are you actually trying to accomplish?

Why not just move over for a 6 month holiday while still keeping your poker accounts at your UK address (or parents address if you are vacating your place) Then all your accounting will be done in the UK and no tax will be paid.

You seem to be trying to make hassle where there is none. Since you are from the EU you dont need a visa or any other documentation to live here. You dont need a bank account or utilities account etc. All you will have in your name is your internet and that can be cancelled at any time. Really is so simple and you are making it seem like a chore.

I just wanted to confirm if what their own website says is still correct. I don't find very clever emigrating to a country without knowing perfectly how your main source of income will be taxed.

Nice, what are the rent prices in st paul like?

I suppose that what you are suggesting is that I remain a British tax payer, so I can profit from poker being tax free here. Well, I'm not British, I'm Spanish, I'm living here only because poker is tax free and I can play at ".com" instead of ".es". So if I move to Malta is to become a tax resident there, so it's important to me how are poker winnings taxed there, in theory and in practice.

lol was that really their response? Fyi in regards to that case, the parts of the ratio decedendi come directly from the english case of graham v green(1925) which cemented the tax-free status of gambling in England. Also their response to the last question of trading shares was poor- while that may be taxable parking the money in a foreign fund which does the trading certainly isn`t- they just seem pretty lazy in their responses.

This has helped me a lot, thanks. I was quite worried st paul's bay was going to be dead as well. I'm glad it is not as bad as I initially thought. Looking forward to coming over now.

St pauls bay is ****. Anybody who recommends that for somebody who is bstween 18 and 35 has absolutely no clue. Everybody who lived in malta for moar than a couple of months will sign that. If u are so busto that it is mandatory to save 200euros on rent look into swieqi or gzira - i can guarantee u will be disappointed in st pauls esp once summer started...

What response did you expect?