MAURITIUS RESEARCH AND INNOVATION COUNCIL
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Innovation Box Regime Mechanism
In October 2023, the MRIC launched the Innovation Box Regime Mechanism in line with its mandate to promote research and innovation, and Government’s framework for companies engaged in innovation-driven activities to benefit from a tax holiday for a period of 8 income years.
The framework is set out under item 34 of Sub-part C of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Income Tax Act 1995 (consolidated up to Finance Act 2020). The income tax exemption is available only to companies which carry out research and development in Mauritius leading to the creation of a patent, copyrighted software or, only in relation to smaller companies, other intellectual property (IP) that is similar to an invention which could be patented.
For the purpose of regulation 23E, “Smaller companies” means companies that have not more than EUR50 million in global group-wide turnover, and that do not themselves earn more than EUR7.5 million per year in gross revenues from all IP assets, using a five-year average for both calculations.
Additional details under Regulation 23E of the Income Tax Regulations 1996 define “other IP” as IP in the nature of assets that are certified by the MRIC as being novel, non-obvious and useful.
For the Innovation Box Regime Mechanism, the MRIC is collaborating with Parent Lagesse Conseil Juridique (PLCJ) to provide the expertise required for the evaluation and subsequent determination of IP assets in the context of the above Regulation. A company that is successful in meeting the eligibility requirements is granted a certificate by the MRIC, which it can then submit to the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) as part of its application for purposes of claiming a tax holiday.