MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Johanne Hague, Ashwin Mudhoo, Medina Torabally and Yushrah Bayjou, CMS Prism in association with CMS
Advantages of Charitable Foundations The advantage of structuring a charity as a charita - ble foundation is that it is considered an independent legal entity; it is not bound to a trustee. This makes it less likely for foundations to be exposed to “sham” issues compared to trusts. Members of a foundation council have duties simi - lar to directors’ duties, offering a strong governance framework. A foundation is registered with the Reg - istrar of Companies of Mauritius and is administered like a company. It is also flexible – ie, it may engage in both charitable and non-charitable activities and may enter into busi - ness transactions and hold assets. The charitable foundation also affords a high degree of privacy, especially relevant in wealth planning, as the founder and beneficiaries do not appear in any public records. There is also no maximum number of members that can be appointed to a foundation coun - cil, which may allow donors to have representatives on the board.
donations of eggs or sperm are not yet recognised in Mauritius. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage Mauritius does not recognise same-sex marriages or domestic partnerships (also known as concubinage in Mauritius). Although there are no statistics to confirm the pre - ferred planning method in these cases, the most effi - cient planning vehicle would be wills and/or secret trusts. However, these would always be subject to forced heirship rules. There is no income tax payable on charitable-purpose entities under the Income Tax Act, nor capital gains tax payable on disposal of assets (save as described in 1.4 Taxation of Real Estate Owned by Non-Res- idents ). 10.2 Common Charitable Structures The most common structures used for charitable plan - ning in Mauritius are charitable foundations and trusts. In order to qualify as “charitable”, the foundation or trust must have one of the following as its exclusive • the advancement of education; • the advancement of religion; • the protection of the environment; • the advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms; or • any other purpose beneficial to the public in gen - eral. 10. Charitable Planning 10.1 Charitable Giving purpose or objective: • the relief of poverty;
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