MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Johanne Hague, Gaelle Angoh Li Ying Pin, Medina Torabally and Béatrice Phanjoo, CMS Prism in association with CMS
Tax avoidance, where established, is generally addressed through the assessment mechanism. The MRA may counteract the arrangement by raising an assessment on the basis of the tax outcome that would have applied in the absence of the avoidance scheme, thereby giving rise to additional tax and, where applicable, interest and administrative penal - ties. By contrast, tax evasion is treated as an offence and may additionally trigger criminal enforcement whether there is an underlying tax assessment or not. In prac - tice, the Fiscal Investigations Department of the MRA is mandated to combat fraud and other forms of tax evasion, and it conducts investigations into suspected tax evasion cases, gathers evidence and may recom - mend prosecution for relevant alleged offences. The ITA 1995 provides that a number of breaches of its provisions constitute offences. More particularly, the ITA 1995 criminalises the behaviour of any person who wilfully and with intent to evade income tax: • submits a false return of income; • gives any false information; • prepares or maintains or authorises the prepara - tion or maintenance of any false books, records or documents or falsifies or authorises the falsification of any books, records or documents; • produces for examination any false books, records or documents; • makes default in the performance of any duty imposed on them under the ITA 1995; • refuses, or fails, to attend and give evidence when required by the DG of the MRA or to answer truly and fully to any question put to them or to produce any document required of them; or • misleads or attempts to mislead the DG of the MRA, in relation to any matter or thing affecting their own or any other person’s liability to income tax, to carry a liability to a fine not exceeding MUR50,000 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. Any conviction may also carry an order from the court to pay an amount which shall not exceed three times the difference between the income tax to
which the person is liable and the income tax paid or payable in terms of any return of income submitted. 5.3 Blacklists and Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions Mauritius does not maintain its own list of non-coop - erative or high-risk jurisdictions under its tax laws. The country, however, generally aligns with OECD and EU standards focusing on automatic exchange of infor - mation and transparency. 5.4 Reporting Obligations and Disclosure Regimes Common Reporting Standard Mauritius is a signatory to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). In June 2015, Mauritius signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters developed by the OECD and started to exchange information under the CRS as from 2018. Under the CRS, the MRA receives from the relevant Financial Institutions (as defined in the CRS) based in Mauritius, the information required to be disclosed and transmits that information to the rel - evant tax authorities. Mauritian financial institutions are required to identify and report relevant accounts of non‑residents to the MRA in a prescribed format, for onward automatic Mauritius has implemented the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) under the Model 1 Intergov - ernmental Agreement, effective as from July 2014. The FATCA framework provides for exchange of tax infor - mation (upon request, spontaneous and automatic) between Mauritius and the USA. The implementation imposes reporting obligations on Mauritian financial institutions to the MRA, which then transmits the data to the US Internal Revenue Service. Tax Information Exchange Agreements Mauritius has concluded a network of tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs), alongside its double tax treaties, which enhance cross-border tax co- operation. The TIEA framework provides for exchange of information on request and may include data on ownership and from banks and financial institutions exchange with participating jurisdictions. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
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