Mauritius: the NRI investment guide

The India–Mauritius DTAA is the most storied treaty India has — and for an individual NRI investor today, its hand is still strong: NRO interest capped at 7.5%, the lowest in any Indian treaty, mutual fund unit gains assigned only to Mauritius (which levies no capital-gains tax) under the residual-clause reading the ITAT has endorsed for the UAE and Singapore, and a TRC with more legal backing than any other — a CBDT circular upheld by the Supreme Court. Know the fine print too: dividends for individuals are capped at 15% (the famous 5% needs a 10%+ corporate shareholding), post-2017 share acquisitions are taxable in India, and a 2024 protocol adding anti-abuse tests awaits notification. This guide covers all of it.

At a glance

You can test every number above against your own figures in the DTAA tax visualizer — select Mauritius and switch between the income tabs.

Your India tax position, income by income

Mutual fund units. The treaty's shares clause covers shares of Indian companies — but Indian mutual funds are trusts, so units are not shares. Unit gains therefore fall to the residual clause, which assigns taxing rights only to your country of residence; Mauritius levies no capital-gains tax. Be clear about the legal footing, though: no tribunal has yet ruled on MF units under the India–Mauritius treaty itself. The ITAT decisions establishing this reading — Saket Kanoi (UAE, 2024) and Anushka Sanjay Shah (Singapore, 2025) — concern treaties with similar capital-gains architecture and are persuasive analogies, but they are themselves under departmental appeal. The Mauritius position is a reasoned reading, one step less tested than those.

Direct stocks and PMS. Here history matters: this treaty's share-gains exemption built three decades of the "Mauritius route", and the 2016 protocol ended it. Shares acquired on or after 1 April 2017 — including shares held through a PMS — are taxable in India at domestic rates under Article 13(3B); shares acquired before that date keep the old treatment (grandfathering), with the transition window long since closed. For anyone starting a portfolio today, the practical position is simple: taxable in India.

Dividends and interest. Settled treaty text, with one widely misread number: the famous 5% dividend rate applies only to companies holding at least 10% of the payer's capital — for an individual investor, the cap is 15% (still better than the 20% domestic TDS). Interest is where Mauritius shines: capped at 7.5% — the lowest rate India has agreed in any treaty — most relevantly on NRO balances, versus 30% domestically. NRE interest needs no treaty at all: it's exempt under Section 10(4)(ii) while you hold FEMA non-resident status.

Claiming the treaty: the MRA TRC

Everything above is conditional on paperwork — and the Mauritius TRC carries unusual legal weight. It's issued annually by the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), based on Mauritian tax residence (for individuals, principally physical presence — broadly 183 days in the year, or aggregated presence over three years). What makes it special: CBDT Circular 789 (2000) declares the Mauritius TRC sufficient evidence of both residence and beneficial ownership for capital gains and dividends, and the Supreme Court upheld that circular in Azadi Bachao Andolan (2003). No other treaty's certificate has that backing. With the TRC in hand, file Form 10F on the Indian portal for the financial year, share it with your bank and AMC so treaty rates apply at source, and disclose the position in your ITR.

Accounts, disclosure & paperwork

The base kit is the same as any NRI: an NRE and/or NRO account (NRE-funded investments keep redemption proceeds freely repatriable), KYC, and the FATCA/CRS self-certification — Mauritius participates in CRS, so your Indian account data is exchanged with the Mauritian authorities, and your declared residence must match your TRC story. Typical onboarding documents: passport, Mauritius residence permit or occupation permit, overseas address proof, PAN, and a photograph; the NRI desk confirms the exact checklist per institution.

Routes available from Mauritius