Ah! If you have moved permanently to Malta, in effect you are non-resident in the UK? Just wondering why you are eligible to pay UK taxation when you don't live in the UK?? (Is there some kinda deal between Malta and the UK which forces you to do this?)
The fact that there may be a temporary residency in Malta does not matter from the UK angle. Tho, sure, it is relevant to pay up all/any UK taxation owing and let them know you just escaped the grubby hands of the IR
Give you an example.... Joe wants to live elsewhere - could be a Caribbean Island, Panama or Costa Rica. He's a UK citizen. All Joe needs to do is drop a letter into the IR along with any taxation he may owe them and say he's just left - and fly off into the sunset. From that moment, he had no obligations to UK tax people, tho he needs to comply with not living/visiting in the UK more than X months/year (gets higher the longer you have been outside the UK).
The fact that Joe may not be a permanet resident of a Caribbean island does not matter to the UK - it's none of their biz once you leave. (And several Caribbean islands will provide long stay deals even without formal residency).
Now... Joe want to enter into a high/no annual income scenario - eg.. make some movies. The place Joe elected to base his movie biz does not have to have any relationship with where he actually resides - or where he banks.
As as aside, there is a "formula" for this, consisting of three parts (a) business jurisdiction (b) banking jurisdiction and (c) playground. The biz jurisdiction is selected on the basis of most benefit - this could be for no taxation or other reasons - it is also where the legal entity is based. The banking juridisdiction (and could be more than one) is normally not in the same area as the corp entity, but there could be an account in the biz jurisdication area. The playground is where you actually live in reality - preferably under a palm tree with a few beers nearby ;-)
OK.. To continue... Joe elects to base his corp in Panama, bank in.. anywhere... and live on a Caribbean island. So, there is no taxation on the Caribbean island unless the funds were generated there. Joe runs his biz from that island and using the Panama-based corp. In turn, his Pamama corp gives him a salary which he pays into the local bank on the island tax free. The Panama corp does not pay taxes because there are no applicable taxes in Panama.
One think worth noting... there is no point in Joe's scenario where he is liable to file taxation in the UK from the day he left.
Just trying to work out some stuff you mentioned Kristian - the fact that Malta has 35% taxation suggests that is not a healthy option and it may be worth having a corp in a more profitable place where there is no taxation (especially if it has to do with movie production/authoring/royalties) and then drawing funds as you need them from your corp and into Malta and paying tax on that element only on a personal basis. In effect, Malta is your playground. This make sense?