Trusts

Venture Corporate Services (Mauritius) Limited, is licensed by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius to act as qualified corporate trustee for trusts established under the proper law of Mauritius.

Our affiliation with Venture law, www.venturelawltd.com an award-winning independent law firm, further inspires client confidence as we go to great lengths to work with clients and their professional advisors to produce a bespoke trust deed that takes into account their specific circumstances, intentions, wishes and individual needs.

What is a trust?

Trusts are an effective asset protection, estate and succession-planning vehicle for the conservation and transition of wealth from one generation to the next. In Mauritius, the laws governing Mauritius trusts are The Trust Act 2001, the Code Civil Mauricien and the common law.

Main uses of Trusts

Trusts can be efficiently used for the protection and preservation of assets, forced heirship and for tax mitigation.

Parties to a Trust

Settlor

The Settlor is the person who transfers or disposes of property to a trustee to hold on trust for the benefit of beneficiaries or for a purpose. A settlor cannot be the sole beneficiary to the trust of which he is the Settlor.

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries are the persons or class of persons that are entitled to the benefit of a trust arrangement. Though a beneficiary will normally be a natural person, it is also possible to have a company as beneficiary of a trust, which is often the case in certain sophisticated commercial transaction structures.

Apart from purpose or charitable trusts, all trusts are required to have ascertainable beneficiaries.

The Trustee

The Trustee must be a qualified Trustee (a management company licenced by the Financial Services Commission like Venture Corporate Services (Mauritius) Limited). The trustee administers trust property for or on behalf of other persons (the Beneficiaries) or for a purpose.

Taxation of trusts

Trusts will be considered non-resident for tax purposes if they are centrally managed and controlled outside of Mauritius and shall be liable to tax only on its chargeable income attributed to its Mauritian source income at the rate of 15 %. The Mauritius Revenue Authority issued a statement of practice (SP/24/21) on 24 August 2021 that provides that a trust would have its central management and control in Mauritius when the following three conditions are met:

• The trust is administered in Mauritius and a majority of the trustees are resident in Mauritius
• The settlor of the trust was resident in Mauritius at the time the instrument of trust creating the trust was executed or at such time as the settlor adds new property to the trust and
• A majority of the beneficiaries or the class of beneficiaries appointed under the terms of the trust are resident in Mauritius

A trust which throughout an income year is centrally managed and controlled outside of Mauritius will not be liable to tax in Mauritius on its foreign source income.

Trusts of a charitable nature are exempt from tax in Mauritius.

Please contact us on office@venturecorporateltd.com for information about Trusts.