Delia insists he is now all clear with the taxman after settling 2016 bill

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia yesterday insisted with this newspaper that all his taxes - arrears, interest and charges – have now been settled with the taxman, down to the very last cent, after his final 2016 tax bill was paid.

Contacted yesterday about accusations by the Labour Party earlier this month to the effect that he still has payments outstanding for the years between 2013 and 2016, Delia insisted that everything has now been paid up and that he is fully up to date with the tax authorities.

He added that all that is left for him to do is to file his 2017 tax return by the end of June, like everyone else, and that tomorrow he will be tabling his declaration of assets in Parliament like all other MPs.

Over and above that, an exasperated Delia also noted how he had opened his personal finances up to the highest levels of scrutiny, more than any other Maltese politician had ever done in the past.

Asked for details on exactly how the payments were made, and to respond to Labour Party accusations that he used Nationalist Party money raised from a recent telethon, Delia invited this newsroom to view bank transaction statements and tax returns next week to prove that what he was saying was the gospel truth.

He said he will also show exactly where the funds to settle the outstanding amounts came from, and answer the Labour Party’s questions as to how he had paid up his dues.

Delia had recently stressed that he has settled his tax “dispute”, but had make a distinction from saying that he has settled the full amount owed to the tax authorities. Now, he says, there is no such distinction and everything has been settled.

Delia had published his financial affairs through a report put together by auditors just one day before the PN leadership race, which showed he owed €51,924 in taxes and another €34,859 in interest and charges from overdue taxes.

Earlier this month Delia had declared “game over” because his “tax arrears” had been resolved.

But apart from alleging that Delia paid the tax authorities €55,000 as part of settling his dispute from PN marathon funds, the Labour Party also alleged that he was lying and that he still owed taxes for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Delia yesterday described such claims as ““ridiculous” and questioned the authenticity of the claims of unpaid taxes for the four years in question since they were untrue, and also because personal tax matters are highly confidential personal data that is never relayed by the tax authorities.