Mauritius
Executive Summary
Mauritius is well located between India, Africa
and Asia
Mauritius
has been an independent member of the Commonwealth
since 1968, and became a republic in 1992. The
mostly volca875,000 (July 2009 est.), with around
150,000 living in the capital, Port Louis. The
climate is sub-tropical; average daily temperature
ranges from 17 to 30 Celsius; it can be wet. The
time zone is 4 hours ahead of GMT.
The official language is English; the dominant
ethnic group is Indo-Mauritian and the most popular
religion Hindu. The Government is presidential,
with a single elected National Assembly and a
Council of Ministers headed by a Prime Minister.
The legal system reflects mixed French and British
ancestry, and administration can be bureaucratic
in the French style.
Tourism has become a major contributor to the
economy. The airport has good connections with
a wide range of countries. GDP per head of $12,000
(2008 est.) is in a middle range but growth has
mostly been around 5% (4.6%- 2008 est.); and unemployment
at 7.2% (2008 est.) is on the high side.
. . . and its economic future is dependent
on exports.
Mauritius
has quite good land so that sugar became and remains
the dominant crop; it still accounts for one third
of exports. Apart from encouraging tourism, the
Government has tried hard to create a manufacturing
sector with a range of investment incentives,
free trade zones and a freeport, although these
are being phased out as part tax reforms aimed
at simplifying the system for all users. Garment
manufacture has been a particular success. More
recently, a financial services sector has developed,
including a stock exchange, to take advantage
of Mauritius' location offshore India and Africa.
The Government is enthusiastic about e-commerce
and has built a 'Cyber City'.
The offshore sector is plotting a middle course
. . . .
Until 1998, the Offshore
Company and the International Company (equivalent
to an IBC) allowed zero taxation across a range
of offshore activities including banking, shipping,
insurance and fund management, as well as in the
free trade zones. Since a raft of new legislation
in 2001 these two types of company are known as
Global Business Companies Categories 1 and 2 (GBC1
and GBC2). Mauritius has decided to be a 'respectable'
IOFC and there is now a flat tax rate of 15% in
almost all areas. Some dilution of the foreign
tax credit applied from 2003. However, Mauritius
has tax treaties with more than 30 countries,
and they can be combined with the offshore regime
to give a good result, especially for trade and
investment in India. Mauritius was one of six
offshore jurisdictions which wrote 'commitment
letters' to the OECD in May 2000 in order to avoid
being included on the OECD's list of jurisdictions
offering 'unfair' tax competition. In 2009, Mauritius
committed to the OECD's new tax standard (12 TIEAs).
As is the domestic
sector. . . .
The
domestic and offshore sectors have traditionally
been quite firmly separated, although recent legislation,
particularly in the banking sector, has begun
to remove the distinction between 'onshore' and
'offshore.' Export-oriented domestic manufacturers
and service providers get favoured treatment.
Until the introduction of the 15% 'flat tax' domestic
income tax rates were moderately high, and property
transactions are expensive in tax terms.
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