Mauritius's taxes at a glance
| Tax on $50,000 of revenue | 0% |
|---|---|
| Tax on $100,000 of revenue | 0% |
| Effective rate at $100,000On profit, after costs of 15% | 0% Source: mra.mu, checked September 29, 2026. Assumes no remittance beyond foreign card spending. If $30,000 a year of living costs (MUR 1,421,889 at MUR 47.3963 per USD) were remitted instead, tax would be about MUR 134,400 (about $2,840), 3.3% of $85,000 profit |
| Tax on $250,000 of revenue | 0% |
| Tax system | Remittance basis |
| Foreign income, new residents | Taxed if brought in Source: mra.mu, checked September 29, 2026. Income Tax Act 1995, consolidated by the MRA up to May 2026 |
| Social contributions, self-employed | 0% Source: mra.mu, checked September 29, 2026. Social Contribution and Social Benefits Act 2021, section 2, definition of participant: includes the self-employed but excludes a non-citizen who holds a premium visa. Self-employed people without a premium visa do contribute |
Structure used: Premium Visa holder working remotely for clients abroad, with earnings kept outside Mauritius and local spending made by foreign card (Income Tax Act section 73B): nothing is remitted, so nothing is taxed. Bands are the effective tax on profit for a remote worker using this structure, with clients abroad and costs of 15% of revenue.
Mauritius tax residency: 183 days, or 270 over 3 years
Mauritius counts residence by income year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. Under section 73 of the Income Tax Act, you are resident for an income year if any one of these is true:
- 183 days: you are in Mauritius for 183 days or more in that income year.
- 270 days over 3 years: your days in that income year and the 2 before it add up to 270 or more.
- Domicile: you are domiciled in Mauritius, unless your permanent place of abode is abroad.
The 3-year test catches people who come back every season. A visitor who spends 95 days a year on the island reaches 285 days in the third year and becomes resident for that income year without ever coming near 183 days in a single year.
On the Premium Visa, residency matters less than it does elsewhere, because the visa rule decides how your work income is taxed. It still decides whether your foreign investment income can be taxed when you bring it in, and whether the Mauritius Revenue Authority will certify you as resident when your old country asks. If your old country claims you as well, the tax treaty between it and Mauritius, where one exists, settles which country taxes first, and that certificate is the document you present.
Mauritius income tax rates for 2026-27
Mauritius income tax bands for the income year starting July 1, 2026
| Chargeable income in the year | Rate |
|---|---|
| First MUR 500,000 (about $10,500) | 0% |
| Next MUR 500,000, up to MUR 1,000,000 (about $21,100) | 10% |
| MUR 1,000,000 to MUR 12,000,000 (about $253,000) | 20% |
| Above MUR 12,000,000 | 35% |
The bands, set by the Finance Act 2026, apply to income taxed in Mauritius, and for a Premium Visa holder that means only what is remitted. A holder who brings $30,000 a year into Mauritius for rent and living costs, about MUR 1,421,900, owes about MUR 134,400 (about $2,840) on it. That is nothing on the first slice, 10% on the second and 20% on the rest.
Working in Mauritius without the Premium Visa
A non-resident is taxed only on Mauritian-source income, and without the Premium Visa, work you do while on the island is Mauritian-source. Section 74A of the Income Tax Act makes that explicit for an employee of a foreign business working remotely from Mauritius. A 4-month stay spent working for clients abroad therefore produces income Mauritius can tax even though you never become resident, and the visa is what keeps that work untaxed until the money is brought in.
How the Premium Visa remittance rule works
Section 73B of the Income Tax Act carves out Premium Visa holders: their pay for remote work done from Mauritius counts as derived in Mauritius only when it is remitted there. That is rarer than it sounds. In Thailand's remittance system, for example, work done while in the country is Thai income wherever it is paid, and only income from work abroad waits for remittance.
- Not a remittance: paying for groceries, fuel or restaurants with a foreign credit or debit card.
- A remittance: a transfer into a Mauritian bank account, which is taxed unless you declare that tax was paid on it in your country of origin or residence.
- Never taxed in Mauritius: earnings you leave in a foreign account.
Living in Mauritius on the Premium Visa: the setup that stays at 0% and the one that does not
Holds
Your salary lands in your account in Germany, you pay for daily life with that bank's card, and you keep a small local account topped up with MUR 50,000 (about $1,050) a month for the few bills that need it. Only those top-ups count as remitted, and at MUR 600,000 (about $12,700) a year they owe about MUR 10,000 (about $211).
Fails
You have your employer pay your whole $8,000 monthly salary into a Mauritian account, and you pay no tax anywhere else. Every deposit is remitted income with no home tax to declare, so the full $96,000 a year is taxed at rates up to 20%.
Premium Visa holders are also outside the social contribution system: the Social Contribution and Social Benefits Act 2021 excludes a non-citizen holding the visa, while self-employed residents without it do contribute.
What a Premium Visa holder files
Mauritius checklist for a Premium Visa holder
- Keep earnings in a foreign account and pay day-to-day costs with a foreign card.
- Record every transfer into a Mauritian account, and the tax paid at home on that money if there was any, because each transfer is taxable without that declaration.
- Count your days by income year, July 1 to June 30: 183 in the year, or 270 over the year and the 2 before it.
- When you have income to declare, file the individual return by September 30 after the income year ends, or by October 15 if you e-file and pay electronically, per the Mauritius Revenue Authority's due dates.
- Renew the Premium Visa before it expires; each grant covers up to 1 year.
Ways to move to Mauritius
| Route | Minimum income or investment | Permit length | Makes you tax resident | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium Visa Source: edbmauritius.org, checked September 29, 2026Digital nomad visa | $1,500 a month Source: edbmauritius.org, checked September 29, 2026. Economic Development Board FAQ (December 2023): at least $1,500 a month per adult applicant and $500 a month per dependent child, shown with 3 months of bank statements and proof of monthly income | 12 months, renewable | Special tax regimePay for remote work done from Mauritius is taxed only when remitted to Mauritius, and foreign card spending is not a remittance. | Open |
Special tax regimes in Mauritius
Premium Visa remittance basis
A Premium Visa holder's pay for remote work done from Mauritius is taxed only when it is remitted to Mauritius. Card spending with a foreign card is not a remittance, and money deposited in a Mauritian bank account is taxed unless the holder declares that tax was already paid at home. The Finance Act 2026 extended the rule to golden visa holders.
Open to new applicants. Source: mra.mu, checked September 29, 2026
Running your own company while living in Mauritius
For a resident, income from outside Mauritius is taxed only when it is received in Mauritius or dealt with there on your behalf, under section 5(3) of the Income Tax Act, and dividends from Mauritian resident companies are exempt. So owning your business through a foreign company works much like being paid for remote work on the Premium Visa: what stays abroad is not taxed in Mauritius.
How a resident Premium Visa holder's income is taxed in Mauritius, by where the money goes
| Income | Kept abroad | Brought into Mauritius |
|---|---|---|
| Fees or salary for remote work for clients or employers abroad | Not taxed | Taxed at 0% to 35%, unless tax paid at home is declared |
| Dividends from your own foreign company | Not taxed | Taxed at 0% to 35% |
| Dividends from a Mauritian resident company | Exempt | Exempt |
| Pay for work sold to clients in Mauritius | Taxed as Mauritian-source income | Taxed as Mauritian-source income |
The visa rule covers remote work for clients or employers outside Mauritius. Once you start selling to customers on the island, that income is Mauritian-source and taxed at the normal bands whatever account it lands in. VAT follows as well: since October 1, 2025, a business whose taxable supplies pass MUR 3,000,000 (about $63,300) a year must register for VAT.
David's note
I would not build a Mauritius plan on the tax-paid declaration unless you really do pay tax at home. For most nomads there is nothing to declare, so the setup that holds up is the plain one: earnings abroad, a foreign card for spending, and a local account only for money you are prepared to have taxed.
US citizens living in Mauritius
Mauritius is not on the IRS list of income tax treaty countries and not among the 31 countries with a US totalization agreement. The remittance rule does nothing for US tax: an American on the Premium Visa reports worldwide income, can exclude up to $132,900 of 2026 earnings under the foreign earned income exclusion, and if self-employed owes 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, about $14,130 on $100,000, which the exclusion does not reduce.
The costliest Mauritius mistake: moving your pay into a local account
A Mauritian bank account turns untaxed pay into taxed pay
Every transfer of remote-work pay into a Mauritian bank account counts as remitted and is taxed at the normal bands unless you declare that tax was paid on it in your country of origin or residence. A nomad who pays tax nowhere has nothing to declare, so moving a $96,000 salary in full costs about MUR 760,000 (about $16,000) a year.
The same rule works in your favor if you do pay tax at home. A Premium Visa holder still taxed in their home country can declare that and move the money in without Mauritian tax on it, so the question to answer before choosing an account setup is where, if anywhere, your pay is already taxed.
A quieter trap is the calendar. The Premium Visa is needed for stays over 180 days in a calendar year, while tax residence counts the July to June income year. A stay from September 1 to April 30 is under 180 days in each calendar year, yet it puts about 240 days into a single income year, which makes you resident for that year, with no Premium Visa covering the work you did on the island.
Who Mauritius suits, and who it does not
Good fit
- Remote workers and freelancers earning at least $1,500 a month from abroad who keep earnings outside Mauritius and spend with foreign cards.
- People with foreign investment income who bring little of it into Mauritius.
Poor fit
- Anyone who needs to move most of their income into a Mauritian bank account: remitted income is taxed at up to 20%, and 35% above MUR 12 million (about $253,000).
- People who want tax residency without long stays: the test is 183 days in the July to June year, or 270 days over 3 years.
- US citizens, who stay taxable in the US on worldwide income.
Recent tax and visa changes in Mauritius
The Premium Visa remittance rule (Income Tax Act section 73B) is extended to golden visa holders (Finance Act 2026, assented August 12, 2026). mra.mu
A 35% band on chargeable income above MUR 12 million replaces the Fair Share Contribution, which now applies to the 2025-26 income year only (Finance Act 2026). mra.mu
New bands of 0% up to MUR 500,000, 10% on the next MUR 500,000 and 20% above, plus a 15% Fair Share Contribution on leviable income above MUR 12 million. mra.mu
