Working from Mauritius as a Belgium resident

At a glance

Rule coverage

What the rules say about Mauritius

The rules below are the ones most likely to shape a stay in Mauritius, in plain words and with the source behind each one. Your own report tells you which of them apply to you.

1. Significant issuePermanent residency and citizenship

   Naturalised and registered citizens must renounce every other nationality before Mauritian citizenship is granted

   Citizens by birth or descent may hold another nationality freely, the age 21 renunciation requirement was removed in 1995. Naturalised and registered citizens are different, renunciation of every other nationality is a mandatory precondition of the grant itself, not a later discretionary risk. Sections 9(4) for naturalisation and 5(2) for registration require the applicant to first renounce any other citizenship before the certificate or registration is issued, so there is no dual nationality moment for the Minister to police at the point of grant. Once Mauritian citizenship is granted, sections 11 and 12 allow later deprivation only on specific statutory grounds, fraud in obtaining the certificate, disloyalty or disaffection towards Mauritius, trading with the enemy during a war, a sentence of 12 months or more within 7 years of the grant, 5 years ordinarily resident abroad without registering an intention to retain Mauritian citizenship, or claiming and exercising rights reserved exclusively to another country's nationals. Simply holding a foreign passport is not itself a deprivation ground, the renunciation precondition already prevents that situation from arising through the naturalisation or registration route.

2. Significant issueMoving your company

   An Authorised Company is cheaper but gets zero treaty access, the most common structuring error

   An Authorised Company is a Mauritius incorporated company whose business is conducted principally outside Mauritius and whose central management and control is outside Mauritius. It registers with the Financial Services Commission and must appoint a registered agent in Mauritius. It is treated as a non resident for Mauritius tax purposes, filing a return of income within six months of year end but not taxed on foreign income in Mauritius. The hard limit is that no tax residence means no treaty access and no Tax Residence Certificate at all, an Authorised Company cannot claim a single benefit under any of the 45 Mauritius double tax agreements. If a structure needs a treaty, it needs a Global Business Licence, not an Authorised Company, this is the most common structuring error made by people who choose the Authorised Company because it is cheaper. A 2026/27 change also excludes trusts and foundations with Mauritius resident settlors, founders or beneficiaries from the Global Business Entity definition entirely.

3. Significant issueResidency routes

   Permanent residence now needs 5 years and a Professional bar 8 times the entry floor

   Permanent residence was rewritten by Finance Act 2025, which replaced the old policy based criteria with a statutory table. The minimum time on permit rose from 3 to 5 years across every category, with 20 year validity. The Investor route needs MUR 15 million annual turnover for each of 5 years or MUR 75 million aggregate. The brutal one is Professional, MUR 400,000 a month basic salary for 5 consecutive years, eight times the MUR 50,000 Professional Occupation Permit entry floor, meaning an expat who qualifies to enter on a Professional Occupation Permit is in the overwhelming majority of cases nowhere near qualifying for permanent residence. Self Employed needs MUR 3 million annual business income for 5 years or MUR 15 million aggregate, and Retired needs USD 200,000 aggregate transfers over 5 consecutive years. The Passport and Immigration Office page and multiple practitioner sites still publish the pre 2025 rules, 3 years on permit and much lower thresholds, those are superseded.

4. Needs checkingTax residency

   183 days in the Mauritius income year makes you tax resident

   Under Income Tax Act section 73, presence of 183 days or more in the Mauritius income year makes you a tax resident. The Mauritius income year runs 1 July to 30 June, not the calendar year, which is the single most common modelling error on Mauritius. Holding an Occupation Permit or Residence Permit does not make you tax resident, and you can become tax resident holding no permit at all, immigration status and tax status are fully decoupled here.

5. Needs checkingImmigration and visa

   Correct the myth, the Premium Visa is 6 to 12 months renewable, not a 10 year visa

   The EDB's own residency portal states the Premium Visa is granted for a period exceeding six months up to one year and is renewable. It is not a 10 year visa, and any source claiming a 10 year nomad visa for Mauritius is wrong. The applicant must show proof of long stay plans and sufficient travel and health insurance, must not enter the Mauritius labour market, and the main place of business and source of income and profits must be outside Mauritius. Family may accompany. Premium Visa holders are expressly exempt from social contributions and from tourist fee registration.

6. Needs checkingPersonal income tax

   Correction, the individual solidarity levy and Fair Share Contribution are both dead

   The 2023 story of a flat 15 percent plus a solidarity levy above MUR 3 million is dead, superseded by Finance Act 2025's 0/10/20 reform. A follow up individual Fair Share Contribution of 15 percent on net income above MUR 12 million existed for exactly one income year before Act 14 of 2026 repealed it and folded the burden into the ordinary 35 percent band from 1 July 2026. Some sources, including taxatlas.io in this research pass, still publish the stale flat 15 percent plus solidarity levy figures and the old MUR 390,000 zero band, these should be discarded. Do not simply swap 15 percent for 35 percent in an old model, the statutory bases differ, recalculate from chargeable income using the current four band table.

What tends to surprise people here

• Permanent residence now needs 5 years and a salary bar 8 times the entry floor
• An Authorised Company is cheaper but gets zero tax treaty access
• Naturalised and registered citizens must renounce every other nationality

Tax treaty between Belgium and Mauritius