For 2026, companies in Mauritius have been able to spend half of their CSR fund on programmes they run themselves. From 1 January 2027 that changes again: the Finance Act 2026 puts the share remitted to the MRA back to 75%. If your income year straddles that date, the share is somewhere in between. Here is how it works, and what to plan now.
A quick reminder of the rule
Under section 50L of the Income Tax Act, every company, apart from listed exceptions such as Global Business companies, sets up a CSR fund of 2% of its chargeable income of the preceding income year. Part of the fund is remitted to the MRA, which passes it to the National Social Inclusion Foundation (NSIF). The company spends the rest itself on CSR programmes in the priority areas, mainly for people on the Social Register of Mauritius. Whatever it has not spent by the end of the income year is remitted with the annual return.
How the MRA's share has moved
- Up to 2025: 75% of the fund was remitted to the MRA.
- 2026: 50%, under the Finance Act 2025.
- From 1 January 2027: 75% again, under the Finance Act 2026.
When an income year spans a change of rate, the share is time-apportioned: each part of the year carries the rate in force for those days.
A worked example
Take a company with an income year from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 and a chargeable income of Rs 50,000,000 for the preceding income year. Its CSR fund is 2% of that: Rs 1,000,000.
- 1 July to 31 December 2026 is 184 days at 50%.
- 1 January to 30 June 2027 is 181 days at 75%.
- The weighted share is (184 × 50% + 181 × 75%) ÷ 365, about 62.4%.
So about Rs 624,000 goes to the MRA and about Rs 376,000 is left for the company's own programmes. For the same fund, a company whose income year is the 2026 calendar year keeps Rs 500,000; one whose income year is the 2027 calendar year keeps only Rs 250,000. The amounts here are illustrative; your own figures depend on your chargeable income and your income year.
When the MRA's share is paid
- Companies under the Advance Payment System (APS) pay 25% of the MRA's share with each of the first three quarterly APS statements, and the rest with the annual return.
- Other companies pay the MRA's share with the annual return.
- Unspent money from the company's own share is remitted with the annual return too.
With a higher share from 2027, the quarterly APS instalments grow, so finance teams should update their cash-flow plans for the coming quarters.
What to do before 2027
- Recalculate the split for your income year with your tax adviser, using its actual start and end dates.
- Review commitments that run into 2027. If you agreed multi-year support for an NGO when half the fund was yours to spend, check that your smaller share still covers it.
- Prioritise. Keep your own programmes in the priority areas, such as health, education and training, environment, family protection, people with disabilities, poverty alleviation and social housing, and record who benefits, including the share on the Social Register.
- Keep what doesn't qualify out of the fund: staff welfare and training, activities for shareholders or senior staff, marketing sponsorship, political, trade union or religious causes, government bodies, and anything promoting alcohol, tobacco or gambling.
- Plan your spending through the year, not in the last month, so less is left to remit with the return.
Volunteering still matters
Employee volunteering does not count toward the CSR fund, and that does not change in 2027. With less of the fund to spend directly, many companies lean more on time and skills: volunteering days with NGO partners, skills-based projects and seasonal drives around National Day (12 March), World Environment Day (5 June) and International Volunteer Day (5 December). The NSIF's Mo Volonter app and the Volontariat pou Moris campaign promote volunteering nationally; a company programme sits alongside them. Report the hours separately from the fund, for example in the social section of your annual report.
Doing it in CorpHands
The CSR fund page works out the fund from the chargeable income you enter, applies the MRA's share for the dates of your income year (time-apportioned when it spans 1 January 2027), and lists the instalments under APS or with the annual return, with due dates and what you have recorded as paid. It tracks spending on your own programmes by priority area and shows what is left unspent. At year end, download the CSV fund statement for your tax adviser and the Mauritius CSR fund pack. See how it works.
This article gives general information on section 50L of the Income Tax Act, the MRA's CSR guidance and the Finance Acts 2025 and 2026, as we understand them in October 2026. It is not tax or legal advice. Confirm your figures, dates and filings with your tax adviser.