Mauritius duty and tax defer payment scheme

In 2015, Mauritius introduced a flexibility for SMEs with regards to the payment of Customs duties and taxes.
The scheme enables SMEs and VAT registered persons to defer the payment of the duty, excise duty and taxes on the goods cleared at importation. The maximum time period of deferral is one month. The scheme was introduced by the Mauritius Revenue Authority to address cash flow difficulties of SMEs. The benefits scheme are:

• ability to clear goods without paying duty and taxes at time of clearance.
• acceleration of Customs clearance of goods as it does not require payment to be made prior to initiation of clearance procedures;
• settling of a month’s charges with a single payment.

Importers that want to benefit from this facilitation have to apply to the MRA. The eligibility criteria are the provision of a security (annual) and compliance with revenue laws.

The scheme’s legal basis is embedded in the Customs Act (1988) Section 9 A which was amended to clearly provide for this facilitation.

Section 9A, Customs Act 1988:

“(1A) (a) Where goods are entered and cleared by an SME or a VAT registered person, the duty, excise duty and taxes on the goods cleared shall be paid
i.in the month of June, not later than 2 working days before the end of that month; and
ii.in any other month, not later than 7 working days after the end of that month.”