Mauritius Trust
Osiris Corporate Solutions (Mauritius) Ltd is licensed by the FSC to act as a trustee of a Mauritian Trust. Although Mauritius has a strong French colonial and civil law heritage, it has had substantial English common law influence. Mauritius also legislated a trust act in term s of the Trusts Act of 2001 which brought in a modern system of trust law.
Mauritius trusts are useful in that although taxable in Mauritius, an exemption from taxation can be obtained if none of the beneficiaries are Mauritius residents. It is also possible to get a GBL licence and to claim treaty benefits using a Mauritius trust.
Trusts established under Mauritius law are particularly useful with regards to the following:
- Allowing for purpose trusts without a perpetuity period;
- Allowing a trust to be migrated into and out of Mauritius;
- Providing for a letter of wishes to seek guidance from the Settlor;
- Providing for the appointment of a Protector;
- Resident trusts are able to benefit from the extensive double tax treaty network;
- Non-resident beneficiaries are exempt from income tax on income in the trust;
- Charitable trusts may be exempt from income tax in Mauritius.
Trusts established in Mauritius are subject to a perpetuity period of 99 years. Mauritius also allows for the creation of Private Trust Companies, which are typically used by High-Net-Worth Families to manage their own affairs. This will work well with the new tax holidays for Family offices which could play a role in running the PTC.
There is no mandatory requirement to register a trust although this can be done voluntarily with the Registrar General in order to receive a” date certaine”.
Taxation:
Trusts in Mauritius would normally be subject to income tax in Mauritius. However, where the settlor is a non-resident or holds a global business category 1 licence, and all the beneficiaries are non-resident or hold a category 1 global business licence, may then deposit an annual declaration of non-residence with the Director General, and is then exempt from income tax for that year.
Importantly any distribution from a trust, (including an offshore trust) is deemed to be a dividend for Mauritius tax purposes. This has important planning implications for people taking up residence in Mauritius and we normally go to some effort to maximise this position prior to taking up tax residence in Mauritius.
Services Offered:
- Drafting of trust deed to meet client’s specific requirements.
- Transfer-in of trusts from various jurisdictions.
- Provide a private trust company to act as trustee of the trust if required.
- Provide a corporate trustee for the trust.
- Offer holding companies to hold assets of the trust.
- Full administration services.
- Provision of statutory services.
- Accounting services.
Assistance in setting up family office and obtaining the tax holiday.