Tax for Non-Resident Beneficiaries of a Mauritius Trust

If you are a non resident beneficiary of a Mauritius trust, the tax you pay on what you receive is shaped far more by where you live than by where the trust is administered. Mauritius sets the rules for the trust itself and labels the distribution. Your home country then decides whether, and how, it taxes the amount you receive.

This page looks at the position of the foreign beneficiary specifically. For the mechanics of distributions inside Mauritius, see tax on distributions to beneficiaries. The general picture of trust tax is in how trusts are taxed in Mauritius.

This is general information, not tax advice. The result for any individual depends on their residence, their citizenship, the type of trust and the treaty in force, so it needs review by a qualified adviser in the country concerned.

Why residence matters more than the trust's location

Tax on a beneficiary usually follows one of two logics. Some countries tax residents on their worldwide income and gains; others tax only income arising locally. A distribution from a Mauritius trust is, from the point of view of your home country, foreign-source money. Whether it is taxed, at what rate and under what label is a question for that country's law.

Three layers are therefore at work:

1. The trust's own tax position in Mauritius.
2. How Mauritius characterises the distribution when it leaves the trust.
3. How your country of residence treats the receipt, and whether a treaty or a credit mechanism limits double taxation.

Only the first two are governed by Mauritian law. The third is usually the deciding one for a foreign beneficiary.

The Mauritian starting point

The trust itself is taxable

Under the Income Tax Act, a trust is taxable on its taxable income at the Part IV rate of the First Schedule, which is 15%. The older route to an exemption for a non-resident trust, which relied on filing a declaration of non-residence within 3 months of the end of the income year (section 46(3)), was repealed by the Finance Act 2021 with deemed effect from 1 July 2021. It no longer appears in the version of the Act consolidated up to the Finance Act 2026.

Section 46(2) still describes a trust whose settlor is non-resident (or holds a Global Business Licence) and whose beneficiaries are all non-resident (or hold a GBL), and a purpose trust whose purpose is carried out outside Mauritius. But such a trust remains taxed at the same 15% Part IV rate. A foreign connection alone therefore does not remove the trust from the charge to tax.

Distributions are deemed dividends

Under section 46(4) of the Income Tax Act, any distribution to a beneficiary of a trust is deemed to be a dividend for the beneficiary. The former paragraphs 5 and 6, which dealt with the deduction of distributed income and with the exemption of a non-resident beneficiary, have been deleted.

In practice this means Mauritius no longer gives a special exemption to the foreign beneficiary as such. How that deemed dividend is then treated for a person outside Mauritius is a matter of the Mauritian rules on dividends and of the treaty position, and above all of what your own country does with it. For a worked look at the Mauritian side, read the beneficiary taxation guide.

The same logic applies to foundations. Under section 49A, a Foundation is taxable at the Part IV rate (15%) and any distribution to a beneficiary is treated as a dividend. The exemption once available to a Foundation whose founder and beneficiaries were all non-resident (sections 49A(2) and (3)) was also repealed by the Finance Act 2021, with effect from 1 July 2021. See how foundations are taxed.

A reference point on dividends

Dividends paid by a Mauritius-resident company are exempt from income tax in the hands of the recipient under the Second Schedule, Part II, Sub-part B, item 1, and no withholding tax is provided for on those dividends. This is a different rule from the deemed-dividend label on a trust distribution, so avoid assuming that the two always lead to the same result. The way the label interacts with the trust's own tax is explained on the pages linked above.

What your home country will look at

Because the foreign beneficiary's liability is mostly decided abroad, the questions that matter are usually these:

The same Mauritius distribution can thus be treated as a taxable dividend in one country, as capital in another, and as a non-taxable gift in a third. This is why no single answer applies to "foreign beneficiaries" as a group. Country-specific notes exist for UK resident families and for French resident families, among others.

Double taxation: treaties and credits

Double taxation arises when the trust has been taxed in Mauritius and the beneficiary is also taxed on the same economic income at home.

Treaties

According to the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), Mauritius has 45 double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs) in force. The MRA page carries an update mention of 24 August 2021 in its competent-authority section, so check the current list before relying on any particular treaty. Treaties allocate taxing rights between countries, and many include a mutual agreement procedure for disputes. They are written mainly for companies and individuals, and their application to trust distributions can be uncertain; whether a trust or its beneficiary can claim treaty benefits depends on the wording of the specific agreement and on how each country classifies the trust.

Treaties also change. For example, Government Notice No. 136 of 2026 (the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (India) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, made on 29 July 2026) gives effect in Mauritian law to the protocol signed in Port Louis on 7 March 2024 amending the 1982 Mauritius–India convention. A family with an Indian connection should therefore verify the version in force; see Mauritius trusts for Indian resident families.

Credit for foreign tax

Section 77 of the Income Tax Act gives a credit for foreign tax paid on income taxed abroad against the Mauritian tax due on that income. No credit is given on foreign-source income for which a partial exemption under Part II of the Second Schedule has been claimed. This mechanism works in the Mauritian direction. What your home country allows against the Mauritian tax paid by the trust is a separate question under its own law.

Proving residence: the Tax Residence Certificate

A treaty claim normally starts with proof of residence. A person who wants to be certified resident in Mauritius may apply to the Director-General of the MRA for a Tax Residence Certificate. It must be issued within 7 days of the application, provided the required return (section 112 or 116) has been filed and the service fee paid. Under the Income Tax Regulations 1996 (article 20A), the fee is MUR 1 000 for an individual, USD 1 000 for a CIS and USD 200 in other cases.

This certificate concerns residence in Mauritius. A beneficiary living abroad proves residence in the country where they live, using that country's own procedure.

Where the beneficiary stands in the process

This tree is a starting point only. It does not replace an analysis of your own file.

Can a beneficiary live in Mauritius and change the picture?

A beneficiary who moves to Mauritius becomes a different case. The Finance Act 2026 (Act 14) extends sections 73B and 74A of the Income Tax Act to the golden visa from 1 September 2026. The Golden Visa carries the same tax advantages as the Premium Visa, under a remittance basis: foreign employment income is taxed only if remitted to Mauritius, local spending by foreign credit or debit card is not deemed to be a remittance, and funds paid into a Mauritian account are not taxed on a declaration that the applicable taxes have already been paid abroad. Entitlement depends on conditions that must be checked individually, and the rest of your income is unaffected by these rules.

If you are considering relocation, tell your adviser before the distribution, not after, because timing can change the analysis in both countries.

Information a foreign beneficiary can expect

Tax compliance abroad often depends on having the right figures. The trustee must keep up-to-date accounts and documents, and an alphabetical register of the names and last known addresses of each beneficiary and settlor, including for a foreign non-resident trust it administers (section 38(3) of the Trusts Act 2001). Accounting records must be kept for at least 5 years after completion of the operations concerned. A Foundation keeps comparable accounts and records under sections 36 and 37 of the Foundations Act 2012.

The FSC also keeps a register of domestic trusts and of foreign trusts with at least one qualified trustee (section 26A of the Financial Services Act 2007), containing among other things the identity and addresses of beneficiaries, settlors, trustees, protectors and enforcers. See is there a register of trusts in Mauritius? and are Mauritius trusts confidential? for how this fits with privacy.

If you need figures for your own return, read how a beneficiary can request trust information and the summary of your position in trust beneficiaries: rights and expectations.

A practical checklist before accepting a distribution

• Confirm your tax residence and any second nationality that could matter
• Ask the trustee how the distribution will be characterised and documented
• Identify whether the trust has paid tax in Mauritius on the underlying income
• Check whether your country requires foreign-trust reporting
• Ask an adviser in your country how tax paid by the trust is credited
• Review any treaty between your country and Mauritius
• Keep the trustee's statement of the distribution with your tax file