Tax residency in Mauritius

Moving to Mauritius, obtaining a permit and becoming tax resident are different matters. How you organise your income and investments follows from your tax position in each country concerned. The time you spend in Mauritius is one of the elements to consider.

Does a residence permit establish tax residency?

No. A permit allows you to stay subject to its conditions. An individual’s tax residency is determined by the Income Tax Act. Obtaining a permit, purchasing a home or opening a bank account does not replace that assessment. This distinction follows from section 73 of the Act.

Immigration status, tax residency and tax filings should therefore be considered separately. Our overview of Mauritius sets out the main residence routes and the wider financial framework.

What are the three Mauritius tests?

An individual is tax resident for an income year if they meet one of the following criteria:

Test	What the law requires
Domicile	Domicile in Mauritius, unless the individual’s permanent place of abode is outside Mauritius.
Annual presence	At least 183 days in Mauritius during the income year, whether in one stay or several.
Three-year presence	At least 270 days across the income year being assessed and the two preceding income years.

These are alternative tests, not cumulative requirements. Domicile is a legal concept, not simply a mailing address or ownership of a property (Income Tax Act, section 73(1)(a)).

Are the 183 days counted over the calendar year?

No. The Mauritius income year runs from 1 July to 30 June. A calculation from 1 January to 31 December may therefore give the wrong answer (Income Tax Act, section 2). The days you arrive and the days you leave both count towards the 183 and the 270 days (MRA ruling TR 55).

For the income year from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, the 270-day test includes that period, the year from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 and the year from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025. For example, 100 days in each of these years would total 300 days. The three-year threshold would be met even without reaching 183 days in the latest year. This example concerns only the Mauritius physical-presence test.

Can you remain tax resident in your previous country?

Yes. Each country initially applies its own domestic rules. Moving to Mauritius does not automatically end tax residency elsewhere.

France, for example, considers your home or, failing that, your principal place of stay, professional activity carried out in France unless it is ancillary, and the centre of economic interests. Spending fewer than 183 days in France does not, by itself, establish non-residence. The position is assessed individually, including for each member of a couple (French tax authority, non-residents of France).

A home kept available, family remaining in the previous country or an ongoing professional role should therefore be reviewed before departure, together with your record of days spent in each country. Whether these ties maintain your tax residency depends on that country’s rules and on your circumstances.

The same review must use the relevant local rules when the departure country is not France. The French example is not a universal test for people moving from other jurisdictions.

What does a tax treaty change?

If both countries consider you resident under their domestic laws, an applicable treaty sets criteria to determine your residence for its purposes. First establish that a treaty exists, is in force and applies to your circumstances.

The France–Mauritius treaty considers, in order, a permanent home, the centre of vital interests, habitual abode and nationality. If these criteria do not resolve the position, the competent authorities must reach agreement. The tests apply in the order the treaty sets (Treaty, Article 4).

Treaty residence does not mean all income is taxable in only one country: rental income or pensions may follow specific rules.

How do you become tax resident in Mauritius?

No single formality makes you tax resident: residence follows from the tests in the Act, applied to each income year. A move does, however, come with formalities in Mauritius and in the country you leave. They are set out here for a departure from France that ends your French tax residence; your tax advisers will adapt them to your circumstances.

In Mauritius

1. Meet one of the three tests described above for the income year running from 1 July to 30 June, and keep evidence of your stays (Income Tax Act, section 73(1)(a)).
2. Obtain a Tax Account Number (TAN). You apply online on the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) website, under e-Services, "File and Pay", "Individual", then "Application for TAN". The number is sent to you by email (MRA, TAN application).
3. File the annual income tax return. Filing is required in particular if your total net income exceeds MUR 500,000, if you receive employment income from which tax has been withheld, or if you have chargeable income. The return is filed electronically, with any tax due paid at the same time, no later than 15 October following the income year: 15 October 2027 for the year from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. Once you are required to file, you continue to do so each year unless the MRA authorises otherwise in writing (Income Tax Act, section 112).
4. Apply for a Tax Residence Certificate if you need one for the year concerned, once the return has been filed. The conditions are set out below.

In France, in the year of departure

1. Before you leave, create your personal account on impots.gouv.fr (French tax authority, moving abroad).
2. Before you leave, check whether Exit Tax applies. For unrealised gains, it can apply if you were French tax resident for at least six of the ten years before departure and the securities held, directly or indirectly, by your tax household are worth more than €800,000 in total or represent at least 50% of a company’s profits. Capital gains whose taxation was deferred, for example after contributing shares to a company you control, also become taxable on departure, with no threshold and no six-year condition. Earn-out payments still due to you from a sale of shares are covered too, without the threshold, provided you were French tax resident for at least six of the ten years before departure. Form 2074-ETD is then filed in the year after departure, with the return for the year of departure; Exit Tax files are always handled by the tax office for non-resident individuals (SIPNR) (French tax authority, Exit Tax) (French tax authority, form 2074-ETD notes).
3. Report your new address to your last tax office (centre des finances publiques), online through your personal account. Tell your employer and each of your pension funds as well, because the way salaries and pensions are taxed generally changes once you leave. Ask your bank which accounts you can keep; our guide to bank accounts and investments when moving covers this.
4. The following year, declare the income of the year you left. This return is mandatory and confirms your address outside France. From 1 January to the date of departure you remain tax domiciled in France: form 2042 covers all income for that period; foreign-source income is first itemised on form 2047. If French-source income remains taxable in France after you leave, form 2042-NR covers it up to 31 December (French tax authority, income in the year of departure).
5. Know which tax office will handle your file. If French-source income remains taxable in France, or if your only remaining French tax is the real-estate wealth tax (IFI), your file moves to the SIPNR when that return is filed; otherwise, Exit Tax aside, it stays with your last tax office. Local taxes on a property you keep in France stay with the tax office where the property is located (French tax authority, contact for non-residents).

What is a tax residence certificate for?

A Tax Residence Certificate certifies Mauritius tax residency for a particular income year; it is not an immigration permit. A person who wishes to be certified as resident applies to the Director-General of the MRA. Under the Act, the certificate is issued within seven days of the application, provided the income tax return has been filed and the service fee paid (Income Tax Act, section 73(2) and (3)).

Applications are made online, using your TAN as the user ID. For an individual, the validity period follows the income year, from 1 July to 30 June. An application cannot be amended online once submitted; to correct it, contact the MRA’s Tax Residence Certificate unit. In October 2026 the MRA shows a fee of MUR 2,000 for an individual, payable within one month of the application; certificates are collected at the reception desk of its head office in Port Louis (MRA, certificate application). If you are not required to file a return, ask the MRA how to obtain the certificate.

The certificate does not remove the need to assess the other country’s rules or the conditions of a treaty. Your tax residence must be supported by evidence for the year concerned. For some French-source income, such as dividends and interest, the French tax authority has its own residence form (form 5000), covered in our guide to the France–Mauritius tax treaty.

What should you prepare before moving?

For an initial assessment with your advisers, gather:

• a record of your days in each country and supporting travel documents;
• details of available homes and where your family lives;
• your professional activities, directorships and main sources of income;
• the countries where you hold accounts, investments and property;
• recent tax returns and the departure formalities you expect to complete.

Once your tax residence has been established with your tax advisers, you can plan for the cash needed for the move, choose the currencies to use and organise your investments. Our guide to foreign income in Mauritius explains how tax residence, the source of income and transfers of money are different questions.