Mauritius: A transparent and cooperative jurisdiction

His key message is that Mauritius is a transparent jurisdiction and that our legal, regulatory and legislative regimes as well as our ‘fully collaborative approach’ vis a vis the OECD and other leading transparency organizations clearly demonstrate that Mauritius is not a tax haven.

In his statement, the Prime Minister stated that “Mauritius remains a fully cooperative jurisdiction” and highlights that our jurisdiction:

• has always adopted sound regulatory practices and complied with international standards on transparency and exchange of information;
• is not classified as tax haven as per the OECD criteria, but has been given an overall rating of ‘Compliant’ in 2017 by the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information;
• has adhered to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and has currently an exchange of information mechanism with 127 jurisdictions;
• is an early adopter of the Common Reporting Standard (The “CRS”);
• is already exchanging information on an automatic basis under the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (The “FATCA”);
• is actively participating in the BEPS project and has already given its commitment to implement the recommended minimum standards, in line of the G20 and OECD initiatives to fight treaty abuse and base erosion;
• is working with the OECD forum on Harmful Tax Practices and EU Code of Conduct Group to ensure that our tax regime has no harmful features; and
• is a founding member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti Money Laundering Group (The” ESAAMLG”) and has always fought against money laundering and other forms of financial crime.

The Prime Minister further stated that “Mauritius strongly disagrees with the statement that is ‘rising at the expense of Africa’ “and reassured that Mauritius -

• has created a business enabling environment that is competitive, transparent and respectful of international standards;
• ranked 25^th by the World Bank in the Doing Business Report 2018; and
• is contributing to the sustained economic development of the continent and prosperity of all African as a member of African Union (AU), the SADC and the COMESA.

Click here to download the Prime Minister’s official statement.

Should you require any further information or would like to discuss any aspect of this statement, please contact the business development team on bd@mitcoworld.com or your relationship manager at MITCO.