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Freelance services agreement (Malta)
Malta · in English
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For a self-employed person or small business in Malta who provides services to a client on their own account — design, writing, IT, translation, consulting. The agreement sets the services, the fees and invoicing, who owns the work, confidentiality and how either side ends it. It is a contract for services, not of service: under the Employment Status National Standard Order (S.L. 452.108), a person who meets five of its eight criteria is treated as an employee whatever the contract says. Both sign it.
- Made for use in Malta
- Last updated November 4, 2026
- Document in English
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- You are starting work as a freelancer for a company in Malta and need a written contract.
- A client in Malta wants you on a self-employed basis for design or IT work.
- You are hiring a freelancer in Malta and want the fees, deadlines and ownership of the work agreed.
- You want a services agreement in Malta that keeps a freelance job clearly self-employed.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Date
- City
- Client
- Client's representative
- Client's address
- Contractor
- Contractor's representative (or “in person”)
- Contractor's address
- Services
- Start date
- Fee amount
- Payment term (days)
- Notice period in days
Common questions
- Can a freelancer in Malta be treated as an employee despite the contract?
- Yes. The Employment Status National Standard Order (S.L. 452.108) lists eight criteria, among them depending on one client for most of one's income; a person who meets at least five of them is treated as an employee, whatever the contract calls them. Keep the engagement genuinely independent: your own hours, tools and other clients.
- Does a freelancer in Malta have to charge VAT?
- It depends on the freelancer's VAT registration, which the VAT Act (Cap. 406) governs and the Malta Tax and Customs Administration handles. This agreement states the fees without VAT and adds VAT where the freelancer must charge it, so it works either way. Ask the MTCA if you are unsure which registration applies to you.
- Who owns the work a freelancer creates for a client in Malta?
- Under this agreement, the client owns the rights in the work made for it once it has paid in full, and the freelancer keeps its own tools, templates and know-how, which the client may use as part of the work. Agreeing this in writing, signed by both, avoids a later dispute over who may reuse the work.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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