Accounting and invoicing for home helpers
Cleaning, shopping, accompanying, small repairs, gardening: everyday helpers work for private clients and need invoices that clients can use for tax. Saldiqo creates invoices with labour shown separately, issues monthly invoices as a series and records trips.
What comes up for home helpers
Invoice for the client’s tax
Private clients can often claim part of the labour costs for tax if they have an invoice with labour shown separately and pay without cash.
Regular clients
A family is visited every week and pays once a month.
Trips and material
By car to several households, cleaning products and small purchases.
How Saldiqo helps
- Show labour separatelyLabour and material as separate lines.
- Recurring invoice per clientMonthly invoice on schedule.
- Record tripsReceipts for travel and parking.
- Match paymentsUpload the bank statement and match transfers to invoices.
Typical invoice lines
Examples that often appear on invoices in this industry. You set the prices yourself.
- Home help, November, 8 hours
- Shopping service, 2 hours
- Gardening, hours
- Travel costs, flat fee
- Material as per receipt
- Credit note: hours adjustment
Tax and invoicing in Malta
What applies to invoices in Malta, in short. As of October 2026.
- VAT
- Rates 18 %, 12 %, 7 % and 5 %. Malta has no zero rate in law. Exports, EU supplies, food and medicines are exempt with credit, which lets you reclaim input VAT. Exempt without credit does not.
- Article 11 small undertakings
- With up to €35,000 of domestic turnover a year you can be exempt under Article 11. The status ends on the day the limit is passed, and you still register with the VAT department. Saldiqo adds the exemption note and leaves VAT off.
- Tax invoice or fiscal receipt
- A tax invoice is issued only when the customer gives you a VAT number. Otherwise a fiscal receipt from an approved system is required. Saldiqo writes invoices. It is not a fiscal receipt system, and a Saldiqo PDF does not replace a fiscal receipt.
- Invoice timing
- Issue the invoice by the 15th of the following month, or when payment arrives if that comes first. Simplified invoices are allowed up to €100.
- E-invoicing
- There is no mandate. Public bodies accept e-invoices through Peppol (EN 16931). The tax authority plans e-invoicing and real-time reporting but has set no dates, and EU rules apply from 1 July 2030.
- VAT returns
- Returns are due by the 15th day of the second month after the period, with 7 extra days when you file and pay electronically. Article 11 businesses file a yearly declaration by 15 February. Saldiqo does not file returns.
- Record keeping
- VAT records for 6 years, income tax records for 9 years and company records for 10 years. Plan for 10 years.
- Late payment
- Interest on late business payments is 10.40 %, plus €40 compensation between businesses.
- Languages
- Use Saldiqo in English or Maltese and send invoices in either language.
Frequently asked questions
Why should labour costs appear separately?
In Germany private clients can claim part of the labour costs for tax if the invoice shows them separately and they pay without cash. Rules in other countries differ.
Can I create monthly invoices automatically?
Yes. A recurring invoice per client creates the invoice on a fixed date.
Do home helpers in Malta have to charge VAT?
If you are registered under Article 10, yes. Small undertakings under Article 11 with domestic turnover of up to €35,000 a year are exempt from charging VAT, but the status ends on the day the limit is passed.
Do home helpers in Malta need a fiscal receipt?
Sales to consumers need a fiscal receipt from an approved fiscal receipt system, and Article 11 businesses use one for all sales. Saldiqo is not such a system. It covers tax invoices to customers who give you their VAT number.
How long should home helpers keep invoices?
VAT records for 6 years, income tax records for 9 years and company records for 10 years, so plan for 10 years. You can store receipts digitally in Saldiqo. The legal duty to keep records stays with you.
Try Saldiqo for free
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As of October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice, without guarantee. For your case ask your tax adviser.