Key Takeaways
- Mauritius does not generally impose a capital gains tax, so disposals of shares, securities, and property typically fall outside any such charge.
- Non-residents should note that gains on both Mauritian and foreign assets are addressed, alongside the distinction between capital and trading gains.
- Certain narrow carve-outs exist, including balancing charges and a holding rule for gold, silver, and platinum that investors should be aware of.
- Foreign-owned companies and international investors benefit from this position, though the article also considers whether a capital gains tax may be introduced.
Capital Gains Tax in Mauritius: An Overview of Its Absence
There is no capital gains tax in Mauritius. Gains realised on the disposal of shares, securities, real estate, and other capital assets fall outside the income tax base under the Income Tax Act 1995, the statute administered by the Mauritius Revenue Authority.
The position applies equally to residents and non-residents, to individuals and to corporations. A foreign owner selling shares in a Mauritian company, or a Mauritian-resident company disposing of an overseas holding, faces no capital gains charge on the profit.
This article explains the legal basis for that treatment, the limited situations where a gain is recharacterised as ordinary income, the transactional duties that apply to property, and what the absence of the tax means for cross-border structuring. It will be most useful to foreign investors, fund managers, and advisers weighing where to hold or dispose of assets.
Does Mauritius Have a Capital Gains Tax? Confirming the Position and Its Legal Basis in the Income Tax Act
No. The absence is not a temporary concession or an administrative practice; no capital gains tax statute has ever been enacted, and none exists alongside the Income Tax Act 1995.
The confirmation runs through both the individual and corporate chapters of the Act. Gains or profits derived from the sale of units, securities, or debt obligations are treated as exempt income, with the statutory anchor sitting in Part II of the Second Schedule.
The Revenue Authority is the competent body applying these rules. Because capital gains were never brought into the income tax base, there is no separate charge to administer and no parallel filing obligation for a gain on disposal.
One practical consequence follows for a Mauritian resident with offshore holdings: a gain realised elsewhere is not pulled back into tax here. The exemption is territorial in effect and indifferent to where the asset sits.
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What "No Capital Gains Tax" Means for Disposing of Assets: Shares, Securities, and Property
For a share sale, neither buyer nor seller carries a direct tax consequence on the gain itself. There is no charge on the seller's profit and no liability triggered for the acquirer.
Corporate disposals of shares and similar securities sit outside tax regardless of the size of the holding. You do not need a minimum percentage stake, you do not need to satisfy a holding period, and you do not need to meet the conditions a typical participation exemption would impose elsewhere.
Mauritius does not levy withholding tax on proceeds from the sale of shares or other securities in a Mauritian company, whether the seller is resident or non-resident, and whether the transfer is direct or indirect.
The same logic reaches real estate and other capital assets. A profit on the sale of immovable property is not taxable as income, and derivatives, treated as securities, attract no capital gains charge either.
The Capital vs. Trading Distinction: When a "Gain" Falls Outside Capital Gains Treatment
A gain that is genuinely capital escapes tax. A profit of a revenue nature does not, and this is the line that matters most in practice.
Where a transaction is in the nature of trade, the Revenue Authority may treat the proceeds as ordinary business profit rather than an exempt capital gain. Property acquired and sold as part of a profit-making undertaking, or in the course of a development or trading business, is taxed as income.
The label a taxpayer attaches to a deal does not settle the matter. The authorities weigh the substance: frequency of transactions, the intention held at acquisition, and whether a profit-making scheme is present.
A person who runs a series of property purchases and resales risks being assessed as carrying on a trade, with profits taxed at the standard 15% rate. The trading risk is therefore real for property, but it is treated differently for securities, as the next section explains.
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The Statutory Exemption for Gains on the Sale of Units, Securities, and Debt Obligations
Securities receive treatment broader than the general capital/trading rule. Gains or profits from the sale of units, securities, or debt obligations are expressly exempt, and the exemption holds even where a trading intention is present.
This is why an investment dealer realising profit in its capacity as principal is fully exempt on that profit. The exemption applies on the face of the legislation rather than through a discretionary relief.
There is no standalone participation exemption regime in the conventional sense. The broad exemption for sales of units, securities, and debt obligations does the same work without the qualifying tests common in other jurisdictions.
The reach of the exemption has widened. The definition of "securities" was enlarged to include virtual assets and virtual tokens, with the effect that profits from trading those assets are exempt from income tax from 1 July 2024.
Disposal of Your Main Residence and Other Property: No Capital Gains Charge on the Profit
Sell your main residence and the profit is not subject to income tax. The same applies to any other immovable property held as a capital asset, since no capital gains tax exists to reach it.
The trading caveat returns here. An individual who buys and sells multiple properties may be regarded as running a business, in which case the resulting profits become taxable as income.
Property transfers do, however, attract separate transactional duties that have nothing to do with income tax. These are charged on the transaction, not withheld from a gain.
| Charge | Rate / basis | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Registration duty | 5% (citizens) | On the consideration; effective rate on an exchange of property |
| Land transfer tax | 5% (citizens) | Transactional duty under separate statute |
| Campement site tax | MUR 2 to MUR 6 per sq metre | Annual; payable on or before 31 July |
| VAT on residential building sale | Exempt | Sale or transfer for residential use |
These duties arise under the Registration Duty Act and the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act. They are levied whether or not any gain is made, which distinguishes them sharply from a capital gains charge.
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Treatment of Non-Residents: Gains on Mauritian and Foreign Assets
A non-resident is in the same position as a resident on capital gains: there is no charge. Disposals of shares, real estate, and other capital assets generate no taxable gain for either category of person.
Foreign-source gains are equally outside the net. Capital gains received from outside Mauritius are not taxable in the hands of a resident or a non-resident.
A non-resident corporation remains liable to tax on Mauritius-source income, subject to treaty relief, but that liability does not extend to gains because they fall outside the income tax base. There is no domestic withholding at source on disposal proceeds, including on indirect transfers.
This treatment has long made the jurisdiction a route for inbound investment into India, where gains on the sale of Indian shares by a Mauritian-resident company have escaped Indian capital gains tax. A 2024 protocol to the India-Mauritius treaty introduces a principal purpose test, which awaits entry into force and will tighten access to that benefit.
One point of difference applies to property buyers under Economic Development Board (EDB) schemes. Non-citizen purchasers face higher transactional duties, around 10%, but this is a transactional charge rather than a tax on any gain.
Narrow Charges and Carve-Outs to Be Aware Of (Balancing Charges and the Gold/Silver/Platinum Holding Rule)
A handful of measures can look like a capital gains charge without being one. Knowing each helps you read a Mauritian tax position correctly.
Balancing charges. When you sell an asset on which annual (depreciation) allowances were claimed, the proceeds are compared to the asset's tax written down value. If the proceeds exceed that value, the excess is recaptured and taxed.
This is a clawback of allowances already deducted, not a tax on a capital gain in its own right. The mechanism sits in Section 24 and the Fourth Schedule of the Income Tax Act 1995.
Precious metals held by banks. Gains on the sale of gold, silver, or platinum held for a continuous period of at least six months are exempt for ordinary holders. Effective from the year of assessment commencing 1 July 2026, that exemption ceases to be available to banks.
- The precious-metal exemption continues for all non-bank persons; only banks lose it from 1 July 2026.
EDB property resale by non-citizens. On resale, the land transfer tax is the higher of 10% of the sale price or 30% of the capital gain realised. This is a transactional duty under the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act, not income tax on a gain.
Two further notes on share transfers. The transfer of shares in an unlisted company can attract registration duty, while Global Business Licence companies are exempt from stamp and registration duties.
What the Absence of Capital Gains Tax Means for Companies and International Investors
For a holding or investment structure, the absence removes a layer of tax on exit. Combined with no withholding tax on dividends paid to foreign shareholders, the jurisdiction allows profits to be repatriated and assets to be sold without a domestic gains charge.
This treatment underpins the use of Mauritian vehicles for hedge funds and cross-border holdings. Dividends received by a company from a Mauritian resident company are exempt, and derivatives, as securities, escape any gains charge.
Global Business Licence companies are taxed at the standard 15% rate, with an 80% exemption available on certain specified foreign-source income, producing an effective rate of 3% on qualifying streams. The country has concluded 45 tax treaties, which extend the practical benefit of the gains exemption across borders.
There is no separate capital duty and no tax on paid-up share capital; setting up an entity involves registry and administrative fees rather than a tax on capital.
One planning point deserves attention. Losses may be carried forward only against the net income of the following five income years, so the timing of loss utilisation should be considered where trading income is in play.
Outlook: Will Mauritius Introduce a Capital Gains Tax?
No capital gains tax legislation has been enacted or announced for introduction as of June 2026. A CGT-style measure was floated and then dropped.
A proposed charge, set at 10% of resale value or 30% of the capital gain whichever was higher, was announced in a National Budget Speech and subsequently cancelled. It did not survive into the Finance Bill and was removed in full.
What remained instead were transactional adjustments. Registration duty and land transfer tax stay at 5% for non-citizen buyers in EDB property schemes, rising to 10% from 1 July 2026.
Two newer measures are sometimes confused with a gains tax but are not. A 2% Corporate Climate Responsibility levy applies to companies with turnover above MUR 50 million from July 2024, and a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax targets large multinationals whose annual turnover exceeds EUR 750 million in at least two of the four prior fiscal years.
The policy direction points away from a broad-based gains charge. A competitive financial centre position, a wide treaty network, and BEPS commitments make introduction unlikely in the near term, though no official statement permanently rules it out.
Conclusion
For a foreign business owner weighing where to hold assets or establish a corporate structure, the absence of capital gains tax in Mauritius is not the whole story; what matters most is whether your activity crosses from capital into trading, because that distinction determines whether the exemption applies to you at all. Getting that characterisation right, before disposal rather than after, is the one practical step that separates a compliant position from an unexpected tax exposure.
The question of future change deserves equal attention, since the current position rests on a legislative choice that could be revisited, and a structure built solely around today's rules carries that policy risk forward.
How Expanship Can Help Your Business in Mauritius
Expanship advises foreign-owned entities on how the absence of capital gains tax fits a wider holding or trading structure, including where the capital-versus-trading line or a balancing charge may apply, and supports the full lifecycle of running a company in the jurisdiction. Our work covers formation, statutory presence, and the recurring filings that keep an entity in good standing.
- Company formation and Global Business Licence applications
- Registered agent and registered office services
- Tax registration and preparation of annual returns
- Ongoing compliance and statutory filing management
- Accounting and bookkeeping for resident and global business companies
- Introductions to banking partners for account opening
To discuss a structure or a specific disposal, contact Expanship Mauritius.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The disposal of shares produces no capital gains charge, and there is no withholding tax on the proceeds, whether the seller is resident or non-resident and whether the transfer is direct or indirect. The treatment applies regardless of the size of the holding or how long the shares were held.
No. The definition of securities was enlarged to include virtual assets and virtual tokens, so profits from trading them are exempt from income tax from 1 July 2024. The exemption follows the same statutory basis as gains on other securities.
Yes, where the activity amounts to trading. An individual or business that buys and sells multiple properties as a profit-making undertaking can be assessed on the profits as ordinary income at the 15% rate, since those profits are of a revenue rather than a capital nature.
No. Non-residents face the same position as residents: gains on shares, real estate, and other capital assets are not taxable, and there is no domestic withholding on disposal proceeds. Foreign-source gains received by a non-resident are likewise outside the tax base.
Registration duty and land transfer tax apply at 5% for citizens, charged on the transaction rather than on any gain. Non-citizen buyers under EDB property schemes face higher rates, around 10%, and on resale the land transfer tax can be the higher of 10% of the sale price or 30% of the gain realised.
There is no enacted or announced legislation to do so. A proposed CGT-style measure was cancelled before reaching the Finance Bill, and the policy stance as a financial centre with a broad treaty network makes a broad-based charge unlikely in the near term.
Legal Disclaimer
The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. While we strive to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the content, laws and regulations are subject to change, and the application of laws can vary widely based on specific facts and circumstances.
Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel tailored to their individual situation. Expanship and its authors disclaim any liability for actions taken or not taken based on the content of this article.
For specific advice regarding your business setup, compliance requirements, or any legal matters, please consult with qualified legal and tax professionals in the relevant jurisdiction.
