Mauritius: Personal Taxation

• The expatriate staff of GBC1 and GBC2 (Offshore) Companies (and of other types of offshore entity) pay half the normal rate of personal income tax; two of them per company can import cars and household equipment free of customs duty;
• The crew of ships on the Mauritian Open Registry are exempt from payroll taxes;
• For companies in the Export Processing Zone, two expatriate staff are partly exempted from income tax.

Mauritius Income Tax

Income is comprehensively defined, including at least the following categories:

• income from employment, including allowances, bonuses, commissions, gratuities (in cash or in kind);
• pensions and annuities resulting from past employment;and compensation for loss of office;
• dividends;
• interest;
• rents;
• business income (calculated much as under the corporate model - see Direct Corporate Taxation for details).

Certain types of income are exempted from income tax, and certain types of expense may be deducted:

• free travel between Mauritius and another country obtained under an employment contract is not taxed;
• members of the main professional bodies may deduct the costs of attending seminars, conferences, training courses etc;
• a proportion of retirement allowances is exempt;
• dividends received from 'incentive' companies, from listed companies, or from a company which is a full-rate taxpayer are exempt;
• many types of interest on Governments borrowings and securities are exempt;
• the first MR 1m received as a severance payment is exempt.

As well as these exemptions, there are significant personal allowances, including personal and childrens' deductions, earned income relief (15%), retirement scheme premiums, loan interest, and a proportion of any investments made into 'incentive' companies.

An individual who is resident in Mauritius is entitled to an income exemption threshold which he can deduct from his income to arrive at his chargeable income, if any.

A rate of 15% applies to all chargeable income.

A solidarity tax of 10% on exempt income was introduced in the 2011 Budget for any individual whose total (including exempt) income exceeded MR2m per year. Exempt income includes dividends received from a resident company or a co-operative society, interest on savings and deposits, government securities and Bank of Mauritius Bills. The solidarity tax no longer applies as of 2012.