THE MAURITIUS ADVANTAGE

Mauritius has a solid reputation of an investor’s friendly and open country offering predictability, stability, protection of investors and attractive investment opportunities across various sectors. In addition to being a business-friendly and well-regulated centre it offers a low tax jurisdiction with an extensive tax treaty network.

The main advantages of Mauritius as global business platform are:

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STABILITY

  • Mauritius has enjoyed enduring political stability ever since its early days as an independent nation born in 1968. The Government is democratically elected every 5 years. The Constitution is based on the Westminster Parliamentary model.

  • It consists of a population of 1.3 million with different cultures who co-exist peacefully.

BILINGUAL WORKFORCE

  • Mauritius also has a wide pool of fine professionals, most of whom qualified from internationally recognized institutions and/or world class professional bodies.

  • This highly disciplined and educated workforce are equally fluent in English and French.

CONVENIENT TIME ZONE

  • Mauritius is 4 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), placing the country 2 hours ahead of South Africa’s capital city Pretoria, 3 -4  hours ahead of major European cities such as London, Paris and Dublin. It is 3 hours ahead of Berlin, Milan and Brussels.

  • In terms of outsourcing and processing after hours, Mauritius also offers a convenient time zone by being 7 hours behind Australia and 9 hours behind New Zealand during summer months and 4 hours behind Singapore and one and a half  hour behind  India.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

Mauritius ranks 49th in global rankings on Overall Ease of Doing Business 2017 and tops Africa’s Sub- Saharan economies, according to the World Bank group’s Doing Business 2017 Report.

OTHER ADVANTAGES

  • It has a hybrid legal system based on English and French laws. The Highest Court of Appeal is the Privy Council in the U.K.

  • Mauritius has strong cultural links with Europe, India, China, and Africa

  • It has well established banking institutions with an efficient banking system and an international stock exchange

  • Living and administrative costs are low

OPEN ECONOMY & FISCAL INCENTIVES

  • No withholding tax on dividends, capital gains and interest

  • Mauritius has signed non-double taxation agreements with 37 countries so far and is party to a series of treaties under negotiation.

  • No exchange control – free repatriation of funds and profit

TAX TREATIES CURRENTLY IN FORCE ARE:

So far, Mauritius has concluded 43* double taxation treaties and is party to a series of treaties under negotiation. The treaties are as follows:

*As of 23rd of February 2016 (source www.mra.mu)

Australia (Partial)GhanaMozambiqueState of Qatar
BarbadosGuernseyNamibiaSwaziland
BelgiumIndia
NepalSweden (New)
BotswanaItalyOmanThailand
Cabo VerdeJerseyPakistanTunisia
ChinaKuwaitRwandaUganda
CongoLesothoPeople's Republic of BangladeshUnited Arab Emirates
CroatiaLuxembourgSenegalUnited Kingdom
CyprusMadagascarSeychellesZambia
EgyptMalaysiaSingaporeZimbabwe
FranceMaltaSouth Africa
Germany (New)MonacoSri Lanka

  • Treaties awaiting ratification: Gabon, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Russia.

  • Treaties awaiting signature with: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, and Ghana.

  • Treaties being negotiated with: Algeria, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Lesotho (New), Malawi, Montenegro, North Sudan, Portugal, Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Spain, St. Kitts & Nevis, Tanzania, Vietnam, Yemen.