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Country overview

#88

Mauritius

Country stats

Rating Points

145

This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.

Crypto Penetration

1.2%

Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Legal Entities

Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.

Regulation Points

100

An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.

Amount of crypto users

14 400

Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Taxation points

This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.

Market volume points

19.2

A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.

Status of crypto

Legally allowed

General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.

Crypto payments

No info

The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Security Level

Moderate danger

The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.

Crypto Salaries

No info

The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Business Climate

No data

Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.

Stablecoin Regulation

No data

This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.

Bad Factors

This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.

Types of licenses

Crypto-to-crypto

This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.

Crypto-to-fiat

This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.

Wallet/Custody

This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - crypto wallet providers and custodians.

Cryptofund

This indicator means that investment funds, trusts, and crypto funds can get regulator approval to provide their activity in the country.

Good

Medium

Bad

intro

Mauritius is known as a resort and offshore located in Africa. There is also a well-developed regulatory regime for fintech and cryptocurrencies.

Security level

Mauritius has a moderate danger security level according to our rating. Jurisdiction has 51.9 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (1). Homicide level (2) is 2.2 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

The Bank of Mauritius doesn’t recognize (3) virtual tokens as legal tender or payment instruments that the central bank regulates. That’s why there is no regulation for crypto payments in Mauritius.

Crypto Salaries

No regulation.

Legal

FSC of Mauritius is the regulator. In 2021, Mauritius released its first crypto licensing document(4) in Africa, the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Act.

The VA Act's primary purpose (5) was to provide a legislative framework for digital asset regulation. It addressed the intricate matter involving business activities with virtual assets and initial token offerings. Mauritius’ crypto ecosystem finally had crypto laws that met the international standards of the Financial Action Task Force concerning managing, mitigating, and preventing any anti-money laundering risk involved with digital currency.

As one of the first crypto licenses in Africa, it established several safeguards that would keep up with the pace of Africa’s ever-evolving digital asset market.

The classes of VASP licenses are broadly categorized as follows:

Class "M" – Virtual asset broker-dealer;

Class "O" – Virtual asset wallet services;

Class "R" – Virtual asset custodian;

Class "I" – Virtual asset advisory services or

Class "S" – Virtual asset marketplace (or Virtual Asset Exchange).

Each year, the country continues to change its legislation to support the crypto sector. For instance, in the 2024/2025 budget speech, the government stated that it plans to introduce a 10-year expert Occupation Permit to attract in its crypto sector.

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	10
PIT tax Max	15
Corporate tax (CIT)	35
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0

PIT

The headline PIT rate is 20% based on PWC(6).

CIT

Headline CIT rate is 15% (3% for companies exporting goods) by PWC(6).

CGT

According to PWC(7), Mauritius has no tax on capital gains.

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3) Financial Services Commission Mauritius

4)First crypto licensing document in Mauritius. PDF-file

5) Mauritius enforces crypto licensing in a bid to promote adoption. Article

6)Overview. PWC

7)Corporate - Income determination. PWC

Last update: January 2025

Articles

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Overview of current legal status of crypto payments in UAE

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Why did the appeals court side with Tornado Cash?

Short overview of Tornado's story and possible regulation agenda

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New Digital Nomad Visas Overview

SWOT analysis for new digital nomad visas (Italy, South Africa, Turkey)

By: Ilia Ilinskii

intro

Mauritius is known as a resort and offshore located in Africa. There is also a well-developed regulatory regime for fintech and cryptocurrencies.

Security level

Crypto Payments

Crypto Salaries

No regulation.

Legal

FSC of Mauritius is the regulator. In 2021, Mauritius released its first crypto licensing document(4) in Africa, the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Act.

As one of the first crypto licenses in Africa, it established several safeguards that would keep up with the pace of Africa’s ever-evolving digital asset market.

The classes of VASP licenses are broadly categorized as follows:

Class "M" – Virtual asset broker-dealer;

Class "O" – Virtual asset wallet services;

Class "R" – Virtual asset custodian;

Class "I" – Virtual asset advisory services or

Class "S" – Virtual asset marketplace (or Virtual Asset Exchange).

Taxation

Tax name	Index
PIT tax Min	10
PIT tax Max	15
Corporate tax (CIT)	35
Min Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Max Individual CGT (for crypto)	0
Wealth tax Min	0
Wealth tax Max	0

PIT

The headline PIT rate is 20% based on PWC(6).

CIT

Headline CIT rate is 15% (3% for companies exporting goods) by PWC(6).

CGT

According to PWC(7), Mauritius has no tax on capital gains.

Links

1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

3) Financial Services Commission Mauritius

4)First crypto licensing document in Mauritius. PDF-file

5) Mauritius enforces crypto licensing in a bid to promote adoption. Article

6)Overview. PWC

7)Corporate - Income determination. PWC

Last update: January 2025