Tax in Mauritius

Who is the tax authority and where do filings live?

Mauritius's Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) administers Mauritius's tax system [SC1]. Substantive law: Income Tax Act 1995 (as amended), VAT Act 1998 (as amended), Mauritius Revenue Authority Act 2004, Financial Services Act 2007, and successive Finance Acts. Mauritius is a SADC, COMESA, IOC, and AfCFTA member.

What is the tax year and when are returns due?

Individual tax year ends 30 June. Personal returns due 30 September. Corporate annual returns due 6 months after fiscal year-end [SC1]. VAT monthly or quarterly returns under e-Filing through MRA's portal. Mandatory APS (Advance Payment System) quarterly.

Who is a Mauritian tax resident?

Under Income Tax Act, an individual is tax resident if (a) physically present 183+ days in tax year, (b) physically present 270+ days across rolling 3-year period, OR (c) domiciled in Mauritius [SC2]. Residents taxed on worldwide income.

What are the personal income tax rates?

Progressive PIT brackets post-2023 reform: 0 percent to MUR 390,000; ascending rates 2/4/6/8/10/12/14/16/18/20 percent ascending [SC1]. Top 20 percent above MUR 3,500,000. Solidarity Levy 25 percent on chargeable income above MUR 3,000,000 (effective combined 45 percent top marginal). Personal allowance MUR 390,000.

How does Mauritius's corporate tax work?

CIT 15 percent flat for resident companies [SC2]. Partial Exemption Regime: 80 percent partial exemption on specified income types (interest, royalties, dividends from specified holdings) reducing effective rate to 3 percent for qualifying entities. Global Business Companies (GBC) post-2019 framework replaces prior GBC-1/GBC-2 framework. Pillar Two QDMTT pending under delayed-implementation framework. Tax losses 5 years.

What about VAT?

VAT 15 percent under VAT Act 1998 [SC3]. Zero-rated on exports and basic foodstuffs. Mandatory e-invoicing rollout under EBS framework.

How are cryptoassets taxed?

Financial Services Commission Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Act 2021 (effective 7 February 2022) framework [SC2]. Cryptoasset gains under existing income-tax categories where realised in trade. FSC-licensed VASP framework.

What is the treaty network and what are the audit triggers?

Mauritius has approximately 46 active double tax treaties [SC4]. MLI ratified effective 1 February 2020. India treaty renegotiation in effect since 1 April 2017 affecting capital-gains-source allocation (post-1-April-2017 securities lose pre-2016 source-state-only-of-residence-state benefit). Standard SOL 4 years; extended for fraud or transfer-pricing.

What are the common penalties and pitfalls for foreigners?

Penalty framework: late filings, failure to file, incorrect declarations, transfer-pricing adjustments [SC5]. Common pitfalls: (1) post-2019 Partial Exemption Regime replaces GBC-1 framework with 80-percent exemption on specified income reducing effective rate to 3 percent; (2) post-2017 India-Mauritius treaty grandfathering rules for pre-1-April-2017 securities; (3) FSC-licensed VASP framework under VAITOS Act 2021; (4) Solidarity Levy 25-percent surcharge above MUR 3m chargeable income; (5) Pillar Two QDMTT pending; (6) extensive treaty network (46 DTCs); (7) MLI ratified 2020; (8) significant offshore-financial-centre relevance — substance requirements and economic-substance criteria critical post-2019; (9) APS quarterly mandatory; (10) e-Filing mandatory through MRA portal; (11) AfCFTA member; (12) parallel SADC/COMESA/IOC framework membership.