Government Notices published in Govt. Gazette No. 20,850 of 3rd May 2022

IT is notified for general information that the following Legal Notices were published in the Supplement to the Government Gazette No. 20,847 of 28th April, 2022 (Legal Notices 120 to 126).

L.n. 120 of 2022: Income Tax Act (Cap. 123); Income Tax Exemption (Amendment) Order, 2022.

L.n. 121 of 2022: Income Tax Act (Cap. 123); Exemption from Tax on Certain Property Transfers (Amendment) Rules, 2022.

L.n. 122 of 2022: Duty on Documents and Transfers Act (Cap. 364); Exemption of Duty    in terms of article 23 (Amendment) Order, 2022.

L.n. 123 of 2022: Public Health Act (Cap. 465); Travel Ban (Extension to All Countries) (Amendment No. 5) Order, 2022.

L.n. 124 of 2022: Public Health Act (Cap. 465); Self-Isolation Of Diagnosed Persons (Amendment) Order, 2022.

L.n. 125 of 2022: Public Health Act (Cap. 465); Second Repealing Regulations, 2022.

L.n. 126 of 2022: Public Health Act (Cap. 465); Period of Quarantine (Amendment No. 6) Order, 2022.

IT  is hereby notified that in virtue of article 10B of the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act, Notary Bernice Camilleri has changed her surname to Camilleri Balzia with effect from Decree issued by the Court of Revision of Notarial Acts dated 20/4/2022.

Dr Keith Francis German

Chief Notary to Government

Scheme to Sustain Energy and Water Efficiency within Voluntary Organisations

In order to assist voluntary organisations in reducing their energy and water consumption and to address the national sustainability targets, the Energy and Water Agency is administering the following nationally funded scheme. The aim of the scheme is to promote investment by voluntary organisations towards the implementation of approved and relevant interventions upon or within their premises leading to improved energy efficiency and water conservation.

1. Interpretation

In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requires:

'Agency' and 'EWA' means the Energy and Water Agency;

'Applicant' means an eligible Voluntary Organisation which submits an application to receive funding in terms of this Scheme. Applicant must also satisfy the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice;

'Application' means an application for participation made in such a manner as required by the Agency and in terms of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice;

'Beneficiary' means an eligible Applicant which has been awarded a Grant after successfully submitting an Application for funding under this Scheme and signing a Grant Agreement with the Agency to this effect.

'Effective date' means the 11th May 2022 starting from 10.00 a.m. and ending on the 31st May 2022 at noon, during which applications shall be accepted as stated in this notice;

'Grant' means the sum or sums of money to be provided to Beneficiaries in accordance with this Scheme and a duly signed Grant Agreement;

'Grant Agreement' means an agreement duly signed between successful applicants and the Agency, confirming the allocation of a Grant to carry out interventions applied for, in line with this Scheme;

'Malta' means the Maltese Islands;

'Perit' refers to an architect and civil engineer which has been granted a warrant and is acknowledged by the National Competent Authority in Malta, enabling the Perit to practice their profession in Malta;

'Premises' means the immovable property in or upon which the interventions for which funding is sought under this Scheme are to be carried out, which immovable properly shall be used by the Applicant for the fulfilment of the purposes for which the VO was set up and shall furthermore be property which is either:

a) Owned by the Applicant; or

b) Government owned property held by the Applicant under a title of lease or emphyteusis from the government; or

c) Held by the Applicant under a title of lease or emphyteusis subject to an outstanding lease term of at least ten (10) years following the submission of the application;

'Scheme' means the scheme established by this notice and regulated by the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice whereby Voluntary Organisations may apply to be awarded funds to carry out energy efficiency and water conservation interventions, that are kept functional in the Premises used by the Applicant;

'Voluntary Organisation' means a voluntary organisation as defined in Article 3 of the Voluntary Organisations Act (Cap. 492) and which is enrolled in terms of the same Act;

'Warranted engineer' refers to an engineer which has been granted a warrant under article 4 of the Engineering Profession Act (Cap.321);

2. Scheme Overview

The main objective of this Scheme is to support voluntary organisations in reducing their overall energy and water consumption through an increase in energy efficiency, and/or reduction in water use, and/or augmentation of water supply. The assistance is intended to facilitate investment in solutions that contribute directly and tangibly towards these objectives.

Eligible interventions under this scheme shall satisfy the following criteria:

PDF – EWA scheme Gaz 3.5

Applicants may propose any number of interventions under a maximum of 2 criteria per category in their application. (Only 2 out of criteria W1, W2, W3 can be chosen, along with 2 criteria from E1, E2, and E3)

It is the responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that any proposed interventions for the use of rainwater are in accordance with any applicable and relevant legislation, as well as Health and Safety Regulations and Guidelines.

It is the responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that any proposed interventions on external lighting systems are in accordance with any applicable and relevant legislation, as well as ERA Regulations and Guidelines.

Projects which fall under the following categories are not considered eligible under this scheme:

1. Installation of photovoltaic panels.

2. Consumables.

3. Maintenance work (excluding criterion W2).

4. Improvements in equipment or systems which could have a direct impact on competition.

3. Eligibility

This scheme is open only to Voluntary Organisations for use on their Premises provided that the ARMS account with respect to the electricity and water service is in the Voluntary Organisation's name.

In order to be eligible for funding under this Scheme, the Applicant shall satisfy the required criteria as described here and in the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice, by which it is understood that the Applicant shall:

i. carry out proposed interventions within Premises as defined in section 3 of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice;

ii. allow relevant organisations involved in the implementation and control of this Scheme including EWA, EWA representatives and Auditors to inspect, given reasonable notice, the interventions carried out upon or within the Applicant's Premises;

iii. accept that the Applicant's data may appear on public documents or be published on the EWA website;

iv. not have obtained any tax rebate, deduction including deductions of input tax credit from the output tax in terms of the Value Added Tax Act (Cap 406), or other tax refund however so described, with regards to interventions carried out under this scheme, and shall not do so if awarded a Grant under this Scheme;

v. not have received any form of funding for the proposed interventions applied for under this Scheme;

vi. be a Voluntary Organisation enrolled and compliant with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations on closing of the Effective Date.

Should an Applicant submit more than one Application within the Effective Date, the first application submitted shall be deemed to be automatically withdrawn and its standing in the ranking list shall be lost. Such applications shall not be assessed or evaluated. Any subsequent Application submitted shall be ranked in line with its time of submission and shall not be granted the ranking of the Applicant's previous submission.

Applicable rules are subject to change. It is the responsibility of the Applicant to ensure they are in line with the latest version of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice . All communication related to this Scheme shall be via email, through the contact email address/es provided by the Applicant in the online application form. It shall be the responsibility of the Applicant to monitor said email address/es where communication related to this Scheme will be sent and to respond in a timely manner to any communication from the Energy and Water Agency.

4. Financial Support

The assistance shall be in the form of a grant. This Scheme may support investments in tangible assets and services procured as part of an intervention carried out by an eligible Applicant to achieve a higher level of energy efficiency, water savings or water supply augmentation as per criteria defined in this notice and section 4 of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice. Costs incurred by the Applicant prior to the signing of a Grant Agreement or costs incurred in the submission of the Application and the associated documentation under this Scheme shall not be eligible.

The minimum eligible cost shall be EUR 750 incl. VAT and the maximum eligible cost as described in section 4 of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice shall be capped at EUR 30,000 incl. VAT. The grant amount shall cover 90% of the eligible cost up to EUR 27,000 (incl. VAT).

Beneficiaries shall co-fund the investment in the interventions by financing 10% of the eligible costs.

5. Manner of Application and Supporting Documentation

An acknowledgment will be issued for the receipt of Applications as per procedure mentioned in section 2 of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice. The Application shall be assessed by the Agency and a letter communicating the outcome thereof shall be sent to the applicant accordingly. A valid Application shall include the Application Form correctly filled in and supporting documentation as per below.

List of supporting documentation:

1. Photocopy of ID card/passport of the Applicant representative;

2. A utility bill, issued in the name of the Voluntary Organisation for the consumption of electricity and water at the Premises where the interventions are to be carried out. The date of issue of the utility bill shall be within the twelve (12) months prior to the date of application submission. The Applicant may also submit a statement signed by a Water Services Corporation or ARMS Ltd official confirming that an account exists, but a bill cannot be issued and providing details of the account holder, consumer scheme and service address;

3. Copy of quotations containing seller and buyer details. Quotations submitted must be clearly linked to the proposed interventions as described in the application form and must have clearly segregated prices, description of product, and date of issue;

4. Technical Report, filled in by a Warranted Engineer or Perit with details of the interventions proposed, present energy and water consumption and the expected savings of energy and water after the implementation of the proposed interventions. Where the interventions proposed aim to augment water supply, an estimate of the harvesting potential shall be provided. The submitted application shall clearly state what equipment is being removed (where applicable), what equipment is being installed and justification for changes in size/capacity of proposed new equipment if applicable. The template to be used for the technical report can be downloaded from the EWA website.

Each Application will be assessed by the Agency for completeness and compliance. Verification that Applicant is validly enrolled as a Voluntary Organisation shall be carried out at the time of application. If the scheme criteria are met and the Application, or a part thereof, is successful, the Applicant will receive a Notification Letter to this effect.

Following the issuing of the Notification Letter the Applicant will be contacted to sign a Grant Agreement with the Agency. Grant Agreements shall be valid for six (6) months. Only at this stage may the Beneficiary purchase and install any products required for the approved interventions. Grant disbursement as per details given above will also commence after the Grant Agreement is signed, within the timeframes mentioned above. Any cost incurred prior to the signing of the Grant Agreement is not eligible.

The Agency shall reject any Applications or parts thereof:

i. where the Application is submitted with missing or incorrect supporting documentation;

ii. where it deems that the quotations provided contain inflated prices;

iii. where it deems that the proposed intervention is not in line with the objectives of the scheme as indicated in Section 4 of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice. If more than one intervention is being proposed in the Application, each proposed intervention will be assessed individually and the Agency may reject only parts of the application as deemed appropriate;

iv. where the supporting documentation submitted is not filled in;

v. where clarifications requested are not provided within the timeframe indicated by the Agency.

Applicants which receive a Rejection Letter may choose to have their Application reviewed in line with the mechanism described in Section 11 of the rules shown in Schedule I to this Government Notice, provided that the review mechanism shall only be available to those Applicants whose applications were not rejected as a result of unavailability of funds.

Following completion of the funded interventions, the Beneficiary shall submit completion forms and supporting documentation as required by the Grant Agreement. The Agency will assess the claim submitted against the initial application and Grant Agreement. Where necessary, the Agency shall at its own expense carry out a site visit. If the assessment is satisfactory and all the required documentation has been submitted, disbursement of the last amount of the grant will be processed. Following payment, the Beneficiary shall be required to participate in any audits that may be carried out for a period of two (2) years from the conclusion of the Grant Agreement. If the approved interventions are not completed and/or the required claim forms are not submitted within the Grant Agreement deadlines and in line with the Grant Agreement, the Agency reserves the right to withhold or suspend payment requested by the Applicant and/or require the Applicant to repay any funds disbursed.

6. Application Process

Applicants may apply to participate in the Scheme through the application form found in Schedule II to this Government Notice and as stated in the rules found in Schedule I to this Government Notice.

7. Duration of the Scheme

Applications for this Scheme may be validly received via the online portal during the effective date of this Scheme. Such applications will be acknowledged, processed and ranked on a first come first served basis, subject to availability of funds.

The online application system shall generate an automated list of submissions and shall not accept further application submissions once the funds for the scheme have been provisionally allocated, subject to review and acceptance of submitted applications.

This Scheme may be renewed, modified or terminated early, including for reasons of oversubscription, by means of a Notice in the Government Gazette as deemed necessary by the Agency.

8. Amendments to the Scheme

The Agency shall have the right to make any amendments to this Scheme by means of a Notice published in the Government Gazette containing such amendments.

Schedule I

Scheme Rules available on EWA website (www.energaywateragency.gov.mt)

Schedule II

Application Form available on EWA website (www.energaywateragency.gov.mt)

 In exercise of the powers conferred by regulation 13(1) (b) of the Thirteenth Schedule (Fiscal receipts) of the Value Added Tax Act, the Commissioner for Revenue notifies that the following type of fiscal cash registers have been approved:

Brand ModelSupplier

Ditron Fiscal Cash Register- Zero Bubble Ltd

                        Sarema X1

Ditron Fiscal Cash Register- Zero Bubble Ltd

                        Distribution Systems

                        DS 380           

THE Commissioner of Inland Revenue notifies that, on the date shown hereunder, the price of gold and silver on which valuations made by the Consul for Goldsmiths and Silversmiths are based has been fixed for the purposes of article 14 of the said Act as follows: