Mauritius

Personal reliefs and deductions

Resident individuals may claim personal reliefs and deductions set below that are deductible from their total net income to arrive at the income chargeable to tax.

Every individual who is resident in Mauritius in the income year in which the income is derived is entitled to claim the following deduction from one’s net income:

• Deduction for dependants:
  
  

  Number of dependants	Amount of deduction (MUR)
  One dependant	110,000
  Two dependants	190,000
  Three dependants	275,000
  Four or more dependants	355,000

• Where the dependant is a child pursuing a non-sponsored, full-time undergraduate or postgraduate course at a recognised tertiary educational institution, an additional claim can be made for MUR 500,000.
• No exemption is allowed for an undergraduate course where:
• the annual fees, excluding administration and student union fees, are less than MUR 34,800 for a child following an undergraduate course in Mauritius, or
• an exemption has been claimed in respect of the same dependant for more than six years.
• Medical and health insurance premium, as follows:
  
  

  Category claimed (self and number of dependants)	Premium allowable (MUR)
  Self	25,000
  Self and one dependant	25,000 (self) + 25,000 for dependant
  Self and two dependants	25,000 (self) + 25,000 for first dependant + 20,000 for second dependant
  Self and three dependants	25,000 (self) + 25,000 for first dependant + 20,000 for second dependant + 20,000 for third dependant
  Self and four dependants	25,000 (self) + 25,000 for first dependant + 20,000 for second dependant + 20,000 for third dependant + 20,000 for fourth dependant

Interest relief

An individual shall, in an income year, be allowed a relief by way of deduction from one's net income in respect of the amount of interest paid in that income year to:

• a bank or a non-bank deposit taking institution under the Banking Act
• an insurance company under the Insurance Act
• the Sugar Industry Pension Fund
• the Development Bank of Mauritius, or
• the Statutory Bodies Family Protection Fund

on a housing loan secured by mortgage (including Islamic financing arrangement per Finance Bill 2018/19) or fixed charge on immovable property and used exclusively for the purchase or construction of one's house. The relief shall apply in respect of a loan secured by mortgage or fixed charge on immovable property taken on or after 1 July 2006. 

In the case of a couple where neither spouse is a dependent spouse, the relief shall, at the spouses’ option, be divided equally for each spouse.

No interest relief shall be allowed:

• unless the person is resident in Mauritius in the income year in which the income is derived
• where the person or the spouse of the person:
• is, at the time the loan is raised, the owner of a residential building, or
• benefits from any new housing scheme set up on or after 1 January 2011 by such competent authorities as may be prescribed, and
• where the income (including local dividends, interest on savings/fixed deposit account from a bank or non-bank deposit taking institution under the Banking Act, and interest on government securities and Bank of Mauritius Bills) of the person, or the spouse of the person, as the case may be, exceeds MUR 4 million in an income year.

Business deductions

Where an individual derives income from a trade, business, profession, or vocation, deductions are allowed for all outgoings incurred wholly and exclusively in the production of the assessable income, including capital allowances on qualifying assets. Unauthorised deductions include all expenditure of a capital, domestic, or private nature; expenditure relating to exempt income; all taxes; any reserve or provision (e.g. reserve for doubtful debts); gifts and donations; and entertainment expenses.