A jurisdiction that doesn't move the goalposts.
For anyone planning a relocation, an investment or a company that will run for years, predictability is worth as much as the headline rate itself. On that measure, Mauritius is rare: its core fiscal settings have barely changed in a decade and a half.
Tax rates make headlines; tax stability makes plans possible. Many otherwise attractive jurisdictions have repeatedly rewritten their rules over the past fifteen years — new bands, new levies, new wealth and exit taxes — leaving families and businesses to re-model their affairs again and again.
Mauritius has taken the opposite path. A flat 15% headline rate, no tax on capital gains or inheritance, and a broad, simple base have remained the constants — through global crises, OECD reforms and successive governments. When the rules have changed, they have tended to simplify and reduce, not surprise.
Four numbers that haven't moved
These are the settings most international families and businesses build around — and they have held remarkably steady.
Corporate income tax
Unchanged since 2007
VAT (standard rate)
Held for over 20 years
Capital gains tax
None — for decades
Inheritance & estate duty
None — for decades
There is also no withholding tax on dividends paid to non-residents, and no exit or wealth tax. The result is a regime you can model years ahead with confidence.
Two lines, fifteen years
The headline corporate tax rate, 2010–2026. One line never moves. The other — a major economy and a common destination for the same clients — tells a different story.
Mauritius has held its corporate rate at 15% since 2007. Over the same period the UK cut its main rate from 28% to 19%, then raised it to 25% in 2023 — the first rise in the main rate since 1974.
The headline rates, 2010–2026
Read across any row and the picture is the same: a flat 15% on companies, a 15% VAT, and nothing on capital gains or inheritance. Personal income tax is the one pillar that changed — and it moved down and got simpler.
| Year | Corporate | VAT | Personal income | Capital gains | Inheritance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 15% | 15% | 15% flat | None | None |
| 2014 | 15% | 15% | 15% flat | None | None |
| 2018 | 15% | 15% | 15% flat | None | None |
| 2022 | 15% | 15% | 15% flat | None | None |
| 2024 | 15% | 15% | 0–20% | None | None |
| 2026 | 15% | 15% | 0–20% † | None | None |
† From the 2025/26 year, a 15% Fair Share Contribution applies only to the portion of an individual's income above MUR 12 million (roughly USD 260,000) a year. For the overwhelming majority of residents, the effective ceiling remains 20%.
What others changed over the same period
None of these are bad places to live or do business — several are home to our clients. The point is simply how often the rules moved, and how little notice was sometimes given.
United Kingdom
- Corporation tax fell from 28% (2010) to 19%, then jumped to 25% in 2023.
- The capital-gains annual exemption was cut from £12,300 to £3,000 (2023–2025).
- CGT rates were raised in October 2024, and the non-dom regime abolished in 2025.
South Africa
- VAT was raised from 14% to 15% in 2018.
- The foreign-employment income exemption was capped at R1.25m from 2020 — the “expat tax”.
- The capital-gains inclusion rate has been increased over time, lifting the effective rate.
Portugal
- The Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime was closed to new arrivals from 2024 —
- announced at short notice and replaced by a far narrower incentive.
Mauritius
Over the same fifteen years: a 15% corporate tax rate (held since 2007), a 15% VAT, and no capital gains or inheritance tax. None of them altered.
The parts that did move — and why they still reassure
We would rather you heard the moving parts from us. Both of the genuine changes over this period point the same way: a system being simplified and modernised, not one lurching unpredictably.
Personal income tax, 2023
The long-standing flat 15% was replaced by a progressive scale. Crucially, this lowered the burden for most people — lower earners now pay 0% or 10%, and the standard ceiling fell to 20%. An earlier solidarity levy on high earners (2017–2023) was folded into the simpler system rather than added on top.
Property duty, 2026
Registration and transfer duty sat at 5% for years. From 1 July 2026 it rises to 10% for non-citizens acquiring under the EDB property schemes — a targeted change for one route, announced well in advance, with the underlying framework unchanged. We factor it into any purchase timeline.
You can plan once, and plan with confidence
Model with certainty
Project the after-tax return on a business or property over ten years without budgeting for a moving rate every cycle.
Structure once
Set up your residency and corporate structure on settled rules, rather than re-engineering it after each budget.
Transfer wealth cleanly
With no capital gains or inheritance tax, succession and realisation can be planned without a domestic tax drag.
Sources & notes
Mauritius rates are drawn from the Mauritius Revenue Authority and the PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries. Comparative figures are from official sources in each jurisdiction — GOV.UK and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (UK), the South African Revenue Service, and Portuguese government announcements. All are summarised for general orientation. Tax outcomes depend on residence, structure and the year of assessment — we confirm the figures that apply to your circumstances before you act on them.
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