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11 August 2023

Hong Kong-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement enters into force in Mauritius from 23 June 2023

  • A double taxation agreement between Hong Kong and Mauritius, signed in late 2022, has come into force in Mauritius as of 23 June 2023.
  • Interest and royalties are subject to a lower tax rate under the agreement, creating the possibility of refunds for excess tax withheld in Mauritius.

The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between Mauritius and Hong Kong (HKMU DTA), signed on 14 September 2022 in Mauritius and on 7 November 2022 in Hong Kong, is deemed to have come into operation on 23 June 2023 in Mauritius and was executed by the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development on 27 July 2023.

The agreement was gazetted in Mauritius on 8 December 2022, pursuant to Government Notice No. 316 of 2022, through the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China) Regulations 2022 and is supposed to be in operation on a date to be prescribed in the Gazette.

Mauritius has a tax year of 30 June, so that the HKMU DTA applies from 1 July 2023 for any withholding tax. Interest and royalties are subject to a lower rate of tax under the HKMU DTA and where the withholding tax has been computed using the 15% rate, the Mauritius Revenue Authority should be able to effectively refund the excess tax withheld, even if the tax may be deemed a final tax under the domestic tax laws of Mauritius.

The coming into force of the HKMU DTA automatically triggers the repeal of Article 9 of the Agreement between Hong Kong and Mauritius concerning Air Services signed in Hong Kong on 3 July 1998.

For background, see our EY Global Tax Alert on the HKMU DTA at the time it was signed, Hong Kong and Mauritius sign comprehensive double taxation arrangement, 13 December 2022.

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For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

Ernst & Young (Mauritius), Ebene

Published by NTD's Tax Technical Knowledge Services group; Carolyn Wright, legal editor

Document ID: 2023-1391

 
 

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