Mauritania

Employment income

Under Article 111 of the GTC, the tax is due for employees receiving income from public and private salaries, wages, and related allowances:

• when the employee's activity is carried out in Mauritania
• when the employee's tax residence is in Mauritania, even though the remunerated activity is carried out in Mauritania or outside Mauritania or that the employer is domiciled or established outside Mauritania, or
• when the employee is domiciled outside Mauritania, whether or not the employer is domiciled or established in Mauritania, on condition that the paid activity is carried out in Mauritania.

Employment income is taxed at progressive rates (see the Taxes on personal income section). Gross salary includes public and private wages, salaries, bonuses, expatriation indemnities, benefits in kind, and supplement salaries (payments made in addition to salary, such as rental subsidies and overtime pay).

The following types of income are exempt from tax:

• Compensation and allowances relating to governmental or local representative duties.
• Family allowances, family assistance allowances, and all other allowances added or paid depending on the family situation.
• A fixed amount of MRU 6,000.
• Up to MRU 1,000 per month for all compensation and allowances except those relating to housing, transportation, liability, and office (allowances relating to liability or office are allowances paid to employees with administrative or financial responsibilities, such as those who are on call or must remain late at the office).
• Social security and health insurance contributions.
• Benefits in kind that don’t exceed 20% of the salary received (gross salary). Otherwise, when benefits in kind exceed 20% of gross salary, they are taxed up to 40% of their total amount.

Public and private pensions, as well as life annuities, are taxable at progressive rates (see the Taxes on personal income section) if any of the following circumstances exist:

• The beneficiary is domiciled in Mauritania.
• The beneficiary is domiciled outside Mauritania, and the debtor is established in Mauritania.

The following types of pensions are exempt from tax:

• Legal payments for war disability.
• Legal payments paid to war victims as well as their successors.
• Allowances for professional accidents (allowances for accidents caused by working tools or the handling of products in the workplace).
• Combatant retirement benefits.

Equity compensation

The GTC does not provide specific rules applicable to the taxation of employer-provided stock options.

Business income

For the tax regimes based on the actual income (normal and intermediary regimes), the tax due will correspond to 30% of the tax base or to 2.5% of the taxable revenues, whichever is higher

However, the minimum tax payable will depend on the type of tax regime (MRU 125,000 for the normal tax regime and MRU 75,000 for the intermediary tax regime).

The tax base will correspond to profits less expenses.

However, taxpayers will not be allowed to do the following:

• Deduct or take into account exchange gains and losses.
• Deduct headquarter expenses.
• Deduct donations and subsidies.
• Deduct deemed deferred depreciation.
• Use accelerated or decreasing methods of depreciation.
• Deduct provisions.

It will be possible for the individuals subject to the intermediary tax regime to opt for the normal tax regime before 1 February of each year. The option becomes effective from 1 January of the year of the opting for the normal tax regime and should be applied for at least two fiscal years.

However, an individual subject to the normal tax regime cannot opt for the intermediary tax regime or for the lump-sum tax regime.

Taxpayers subject to the lump-sum tax regime will be liable to pay a tax of 3% of their annual turnover.

Under the lump-sum tax regime and where individuals perform simultaneous activities in the same location or several activities in different locations, each business will be considered as a different activity taxable on a separate basis, assuming that the total turnover is less than MRU 3 million.

Dividend income

Dividends are taxed at 10%. When the company pays the dividend, it should apply the WHT. There is a complex system of quarterly instalment payments.

Interest income

Bond interest is taxed at 10%. The amount withheld must be paid in four equal instalments (within the first 15 days of January, April, July, and October of each year).

Deposits or guaranteed interest on accounts with a Mauritanian bank are taxed at 10%. The amount withheld is paid by the bank in four equal instalments (within the first 15 days of January, April, July, and October of each year).

Other interest revenues, notably interest on loans, are taxed at 10%. The amount withheld is paid in four equal instalments (within the first 15 days of January, April, July, and October of each year).

Rental income

Rental income from houses, office buildings, factories, and real estate without buildings is subject to proportional tax at a rate of 10%.