I’m Maltese And I Was Told I’m Not Eligible For COVID-19 Vouchers
As good and beneficial as it may be, the COVID-19 voucher scheme has been a mess, to say the least.
It has been almost two months since the Maltese government started rolling out €100 vouchers to all local residents and, with less than a week to collect them, some have yet to receive word that they’ve got one waiting for them.
Including me, a Maltese resident who was born here, has a right to vote and oh, of course, pays taxes.
Despite chasing up authorities, both at the post office (which involved queueing for an hour) and via the dedicated hotline number (80074904), I have yet to be told that I am even eligible for the vouchers.
In fact, as of today, I am not eligible for the vouchers because I do not appear on the MIMCOL system… for whatever reason.
Yet, my previous tenants (who left Malta years ago) somehow received a MaltaPost letter reminding them to pick up their vouchers.
The sad reality is that I am not the only one…
Lovin Malta has been contacted by several disgruntled residents who are in the same boat as me. Some were told that they aren’t eligible because they need to renew their ID cards, others because they mysteriously disappeared from the system too.
In some cases, there are those who are cashing vouchers of residents who no longer live in the country and who never paid a single cent of tax while here.
“I have been living here for nine years straight and paying all my taxes. To date, I have received no government vouchers,” a local resident told Lovin Malta.
“I hosted a couple for three months four years ago and they received vouchers without paying any tax,” said another.
After waiting over a week to hear back from MIMCOL, I decided to give them a ring. I was then told that I should wait a few more days because “there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Unfortunately, a few days’ time also equates to the end of the month, which translates into the end of the government voucher scheme.
The government voucher scheme is a mess, to say the least. As with any program, there are bound to be some cracks but some of us weren’t expecting the ground to fall beneath us.
Have you experienced anything similar? Let us know by sending us an email at [email protected]
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