Mauritian hotels must pay half their VAT in foreign currency
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Mauritius as they stand today, see the Mauritius guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Mauritius
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Compliance
- Status
- Enacted
- Impact
- Action required
- Announced
- 13 August 2026
- Effective
- 1 October 2026
- Instrument
- MU-14-2026
- Authority
- Mauritius Revenue Authority
- Systems
- Tax engine, Reporting
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
VAT-registered persons providing accommodation services in a hotel or tourist residence in Mauritius that receive more than 50 per cent of payment in the foreign currencies specified in section 6(5) of the Income Tax Act.
Mauritian hotels and tourist residences taking over half their payment in specified foreign currencies must file and pay 50% of the VAT due in that currency from 1 October 2026.
Tax engineReporting
Section 25(e) inserts a new paragraph (aa) in section 12(1A) of the VAT Act: a registered person providing accommodation in a hotel or tourist residence who receives more than 50 per cent of payment in foreign currencies specified in section 6(5) of the Income Tax Act must submit the VAT return and pay 50 per cent of the VAT due in that currency in the same taxable period.
What changed in detail
Section 25(e) inserts a new paragraph (aa) in section 12(1A) of the VAT Act: a registered person providing accommodation in a hotel or tourist residence who receives more than 50 per cent of payment in foreign currencies specified in section 6(5) of the Income Tax Act must submit the VAT return and pay 50 per cent of the VAT due in that currency in the same taxable period.
What it means
This is a foreign-exchange measure wearing a VAT return’s clothing, and the operational burden is on treasury rather than tax: the obligation is to settle half the liability in the currency received, in the same taxable period. Hotels that convert receipts to rupees on receipt will need to stop doing so, or buy currency back to meet the payment.
Proof
(aa) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and paragraph (a), where, in any taxable period, a registered person is engaged in the provision of accommodation services in a hotel or tourist residence and receives payment of more than 50 per cent in any of the foreign currencies specified in section 6(5) of the Income Tax Act, he shall submit his VAT return under section 22 and pay 50 per cent of any tax specified therein in that currency in that taxable period.
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