MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Johanne Hague, Ashwin Mudhoo, Medina Torabally and Yushrah Bayjou, CMS Prism – in association with CMS
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
partners do not benefit from the legal status afforded to spouses for tax purposes. Succession Rights Unmarried partners do not benefit from the statutory succession rights that may arise under matrimonial law. As a result, where one partner dies without hav - ing implemented succession planning measures, the surviving partner does not automatically inherit from the deceased merely by virtue of cohabitation. Accordingly, unmarried couples often rely on Wills, donations, trusts or foundations to provide for a sur - viving partner. Such arrangements remain subject to any mandatory forced-heirship rules that may apply under Mauritian law. Comparison With Married Couples Married couples benefit from a recognised matrimo - nial property regime and enjoy various rights arising under the Civil Code, including rights connected with succession, marital property and family law. Unmar - ried couples do not automatically acquire equivalent rights through the mere passage of time or by living together. Consequently, succession planning is generally sig - nificantly more important for cohabiting partners than for married couples, particularly where immovable property or family wealth is involved.
purpose or objective: • the relief of poverty;
• 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. 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.
10. Charitable Planning 10.1 Charitable Giving
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 1.5 Taxation of Real Estate Owned by Non-Resi- dents and Non-Citizens ).
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