Mauritania Tax Regime

Mauritania operates a territorial corporate income tax system layered with schedular taxes on property and specific income categories, alongside a progressive personal income tax. Corporate profits are taxed under a normal or intermediate real-profit regime depending on turnover, with a minimum-tax floor calculated on gross receipts protecting the treasury against loss-making or thinly profitable structures. The regime remains largely domestic in orientation — Mauritania's treaty network is limited — and administration is centred on the General Directorate of Taxes (Direction Générale des Impôts), with a strong emphasis on withholding at source for non-resident and diffuse taxpayer segments. The mining and fisheries sectors, central to the economy, are subject to specific royalty and surface-tax regimes layered on top of the general corporate rules.

1.1 Sources

Primary legislation includes the General Tax Code (Code Général des Impôts), successive Finance Laws, and sector-specific mining and petroleum codes administered by the Ministry of Finance and the General Directorate of Taxes.

1.2 Recent developments

Recent Finance Laws have refined the turnover thresholds separating the Normal Real Profit Regime from the Intermediate Real Profit Regime and clarified the two-consecutive-year rule before a taxpayer moves between regimes. The minimum tax computed as a percentage of turnover or commission continues to apply as a floor alongside the standard 25% headline rate, ensuring a baseline contribution from low-margin and intermediary businesses such as telephone-card resale, travel agencies and second-hand goods dealers. Property income taxation has been consolidated at a flat 10% rate across built and non-built property, rental and construction-lease income not otherwise captured by corporate or business-profits tax. Ongoing digitalisation of filing and payment channels continues under the General Directorate of Taxes.

Headline statutory corporate income tax rate for a resident company. Where sub-national (state, provincial, cantonal or municipal) corporate taxes apply, the combined rate reported by the OECD is shown. Projected 2026–2028 rates carry the current rate forward unless a change is already enacted or officially scheduled. As-of 2026.

Top marginal statutory personal income tax rate on employment income for a resident individual. Where sub-national (state, provincial, cantonal or municipal) income taxes are a standard part of the system, the combined top rate is shown. Projected 2026–2028 rates carry the current rate forward unless a change is already enacted or officially scheduled. As-of 2026.

2.1 Rates and residence

Mauritania taxes corporate profits on a territoriality basis: companies carrying on activity outside Mauritania are not taxed in Mauritania on those foreign profits, while foreign companies (resident and non-resident) are taxed on Mauritanian-source income, including profits from the exportation of goods and services by Mauritanian companies. Three regimes apply: the Normal Real Profit Regime (annual turnover before tax exceeding MRU 5 million), the Intermediate Real Profit Regime (below that threshold, with reclassification only after two consecutive years below the limit, pro-rated for businesses starting or ceasing activity mid-year), and a simplified regime for commercial fishing. The tax due is the higher of 25% of net taxable profit or a turnover-based floor — 2% of taxable receipts under the Normal Real Profit Regime and 2.5% under the Intermediate Real Profit Regime — so loss-making and low-margin companies still bear a minimum contribution. A separate 25% rate on a 2.5% commission or margin base applies to defined intermediary activities — resale of telephone cards and audiovisual subscriptions at supplier-fixed prices, travel agency services, resale of second-hand goods bought from non-taxable persons, and labour contracting.

A minimum flat-amount tax of MRU 100,000 applies under the Normal Real Profit Regime irrespective of the turnover-based computation, ensuring every real-regime taxpayer contributes a baseline amount even in a loss year.

2.2 Dividends and participation exemption

Dividends distributed by a Mauritanian company are subject to withholding at source, with domestic inter-company distributions commonly relieved or reduced under participation-style treatment where the recipient itself is a Mauritanian corporate taxpayer, subject to conditions in the General Tax Code. Outbound dividends to non-resident shareholders bear withholding tax as a final Mauritanian tax, with treaty relief available under Mauritania's limited double-tax treaty network. Capital gains on shareholdings are, in the absence of a specific participation exemption, taxed as ordinary business profits at the standard corporate rate (25%) or the 2.5% minimum base, whichever is higher, when realised by a Mauritanian corporate taxpayer.

2.3 Income determination and deductions

Taxable profit is computed from the statutory accounts prepared in accordance with the OHADA accounting framework (SYSCOHADA), adjusted for tax purposes. Ordinary and necessary business expenses are deductible if properly documented and incurred in the interest of the business; non-deductible items typically include certain excessive or unjustified general expenses, fines and penalties, and a portion of expenditure not supported by regular invoicing. Depreciation follows standard straight-line rates by asset category (buildings, plant and equipment, vehicles, IT equipment), with accelerated or declining-balance depreciation available for specified productive investments. Provisions are deductible only where they meet strict documentation and probability tests under the General Tax Code.

2.4 Interest limitation

Interest paid to shareholders and related parties is deductible subject to a cap tied to a reference interest rate (typically the central bank's key rate plus a margin) and to thin-capitalisation-style restrictions limiting deductible related-party interest by reference to the company's equity. Interest on related-party advances in excess of paid-up capital, or exceeding the regulatory rate cap, is treated as a non-deductible distribution. Interest paid to unrelated Mauritanian banks and financial institutions is generally deductible in full, subject to ordinary business-purpose tests.

2.5 Losses

Tax losses may generally be carried forward for a limited number of years (typically up to five years) against future taxable profits, subject to conditions in the General Tax Code; there is no loss carryback. Because the minimum tax is computed on turnover rather than profit, loss-making companies under the Normal Real Profit Regime nonetheless bear a floor liability (the higher of 2.5% of taxable income or the MRU 100,000 minimum), independent of the loss carryforward position.

2.6 Group taxation

Mauritania does not operate a formal fiscal-consolidation or group-relief regime comparable to European group taxation systems; each Mauritanian company is assessed as a separate taxpayer. Groups commonly manage related-party charges (management fees, royalties, intra-group financing) through arm's-length pricing and withholding compliance rather than through loss pooling, and restructurings among group companies are analysed under the ordinary rules for transfers of assets, mergers and business combinations, with registration duties and capital-gains consequences considered case by case.

2.7 Controlled foreign companies

Mauritania does not operate a dedicated controlled-foreign-company regime attributing the income of low-taxed foreign subsidiaries to Mauritanian parent companies. The territoriality principle means foreign-source profits of genuinely foreign operations generally fall outside the Mauritanian tax net at the level of the Mauritanian parent, while anti-abuse and transfer-pricing rules continue to apply to cross-border related-party transactions with a Mauritanian nexus.

2.8 Transfer pricing

Related-party transactions must be conducted on arm's-length terms, and the tax authorities may reassess the taxable base where prices or terms deviate from those that would be agreed between independent parties, drawing on international (OECD-influenced) transfer-pricing principles as interpretive guidance. Documentation requirements are less formalised than in OECD member states, but companies — particularly in the extractive sector — are expected to justify intra-group pricing, financing terms and service charges on request during an audit. Advance pricing arrangements are not a routine feature of Mauritanian practice; taxpayers instead rely on contemporaneous documentation and negotiation with the tax authorities.

2.9 Incentives

The Investment Code offers exemptions and reduced rates for approved investments meeting job-creation, regional-development or export criteria, including temporary relief from corporate income tax, customs duty relief on capital goods imports, and reduced registration duties during an approval period. The mining and petroleum codes provide sector-specific stabilisation clauses, capital-allowance regimes and royalty structures that operate alongside, rather than instead of, the general corporate tax rules. Free-zone status (notably around Nouadhibou) offers further customs and tax relief for qualifying export-oriented activities.

2.10 Pillar Two

Mauritania has not enacted Pillar Two legislation implementing a domestic or global minimum top-up tax, and is not currently a jurisdiction in which large multinational groups face an income-inclusion rule, undertaxed-profits rule or qualified domestic minimum top-up tax. Mauritanian operations of in-scope multinational groups nonetheless fall within the consolidated group's Pillar Two computations performed at the level of the ultimate parent's jurisdiction, so effective-tax-rate data for Mauritanian entities may still need to be prepared for group reporting purposes even though no local top-up tax is charged.

2.11 Branch income and reorganisations

A Mauritanian branch of a foreign company is taxed on its Mauritanian-source profits under the same real-profit regime rules (25% of net profit or the 2.5% turnover-based minimum, whichever is higher) as a locally incorporated company, and bears in addition a branch profits tax: article 120(10) of the Code Général des Impôts deems the profits of a permanent establishment liable to corporate income tax to be distributed to non-resident companies in each financial year, article 125(7) fixes the base at those taxable profits less the corporate income tax paid on them, and article 126 charges the resulting amount to the impôt sur le revenu des capitaux mobiliers at 10% — the residual rate that article applies in all cases other than the 20% it reserves for gains on securities where the transferor is established in a privileged-tax State — subject to the provisions of international double taxation conventions. The charge does not depend on any actual repatriation: under article 128(3) it falls due by the 15th of the month following the quarter in which the annual return required by article 59 was filed, whether or not the branch remits anything to its head office. Mergers, demergers and business transfers are subject to registration duties and capital-gains rules on transferred assets, with limited statutory relief for restructurings that preserve the underlying business; specific approval or ruling requests are commonly used to confirm tax treatment for larger reorganisations, particularly in the extractive sector.

3.1 Residence and rates

Resident individuals are taxed on Mauritanian-source income under the schedular system set out in the General Tax Code; residence generally follows habitual abode, a principal place of business, or the centre of economic interests in Mauritania. Employment income is subject to a progressive wage tax (Impôt sur les Traitements et Salaires, ITS) withheld at source by the employer on a monthly basis, with rates increasing through three brackets — 15% up to MRU 9,000 of monthly taxable pay, 25% from MRU 9,001 to MRU 21,000 and 40% above MRU 21,000. Business and professional income earned directly by individuals (BIC/BNC-equivalent categories) is taxed under rules mirroring the corporate real-profit regimes, including the turnover-based minimum tax where applicable.

3.2 Capital income and real estate

Investment income — dividends and interest — is generally subject to withholding tax at source, which typically discharges the individual's Mauritanian liability on Mauritanian-source amounts. Rental and other property income (from built and non-built property, subletting, and construction leases not captured elsewhere) is subject to the flat 10% property income tax described in section 1.2, assessed on gross rents subject to limited standard deductions. Capital gains realised by individuals outside a business context are taxed under specific rules depending on the asset class, with real estate transfers additionally attracting registration duties on the transaction value.

3.3 Social security and payroll

Employers and employees contribute to the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale, CNSS) covering family benefits, work-injury insurance and old-age pensions, with contribution rates set as a percentage of gross salary up to a contribution ceiling, borne partly by the employer and partly by the employee. Employers additionally withhold the monthly wage tax (ITS) and remit it together with social security contributions to the relevant authorities; payroll-related apprenticeship or training-fund levies may also apply to larger employers.

3.4 Inbound individuals

There is no general net wealth tax in Mauritania. Inheritance and gift transfers of Mauritanian assets are subject to registration duties rather than a dedicated inheritance tax code comparable to European systems, with rates varying by degree of relationship and asset type. Expatriates working in Mauritania, common in the mining, oil-services and international-development sectors, are typically taxed on Mauritanian-source employment income under the standard ITS withholding rules, with contractual arrangements (tax-equalisation or tax-protection clauses) commonly used by employers to manage the net cost of Mauritanian payroll tax and social security for internationally mobile staff.

Mauritania applies withholding tax at source on a range of outbound and domestic payments, particularly to non-resident recipients without a permanent establishment in Mauritania. Dividend distributions, interest payments, and fees for services rendered by non-residents are subject to withholding as the mechanism for collecting Mauritanian tax on Mauritanian-source income, given the limited practical reach of assessment-based collection from non-residents. Mauritania's double-tax treaty network is narrow relative to OECD or EU member states, so withholding at domestic statutory rates commonly applies in full to payments made to residents of non-treaty jurisdictions, with treaty relief available only where a specific convention is in force and its conditions (beneficial ownership, permanent-establishment tests) are satisfied.

Because Mauritania has concluded only a small number of bilateral tax treaties (principally with select regional and Francophone partners), most cross-border payments to third-country recipients are taxed at full domestic withholding rates. Taxpayers relying on treaty relief must generally provide a certificate of residence and satisfy beneficial-ownership and substance conditions before relief is granted, and relief is typically obtained by refund rather than automatic relief at source.

5.1 General anti-abuse and substance rules

The General Tax Code contains general anti-abuse provisions empowering the tax authorities to disregard or recharacterise transactions and structures that lack genuine economic substance and are entered into principally to reduce Mauritanian tax. Related-party pricing, financing and service arrangements are subject to arm's-length scrutiny (section 2.8), and the authorities may adjust the taxable base where documentation does not support the commercial rationale for a cross-border arrangement, particularly in the extractive and services sectors where related-party charges are common.

5.2 Cross-border reporting and exchange of information

Mauritania participates in regional and international frameworks for tax cooperation to a more limited extent than OECD member states; formal exchange-of-information and country-by-country reporting obligations are not yet a settled feature of the compliance landscape for most Mauritanian taxpayers. Multinational groups operating in Mauritania should nonetheless expect their Mauritanian entities to be included within group-level transfer-pricing documentation and country-by-country reports prepared at the ultimate parent level to satisfy the parent jurisdiction's own disclosure obligations, even where no equivalent domestic filing is currently required in Mauritania itself.

6.1 VAT

Value added tax is levied at a standard rate of 16% on the supply of goods and services and on imports, with specific exemptions for essential goods, certain financial and insurance services, and defined social-purpose supplies. Registration is required for businesses exceeding the applicable turnover threshold, with monthly filing and payment obligations for registered taxpayers. Input VAT on business purchases is generally recoverable against output VAT for taxable activities, subject to standard exclusions (for example, passenger vehicles and certain entertainment expenses) and documentary requirements; exporters may claim VAT refunds or apply zero-rating on qualifying export sales.

6.2 Transaction, property and other taxes

Registration duties apply to transfers of real estate, business assets and shares, with rates varying by asset class and transaction type. The flat 10% property income tax (section 1.2) applies to rental and similar property income not otherwise captured within business profits. Mining and petroleum operators are subject to sector-specific surface taxes, royalties and production-sharing terms under the Mining Code and Petroleum Code, layered on top of general corporate tax. Customs duties apply to imports at rates depending on tariff classification, subject to Investment Code and free-zone relief for qualifying investors, and excise-type duties apply to specified goods such as tobacco and certain beverages. There is no general net wealth tax or estate tax regime comparable to those found in OECD jurisdictions.

7.1 Filing, assessment and audit

The tax year is the calendar year. Corporate taxpayers file annual returns with the General Directorate of Taxes, generally within a fixed number of months after the financial year-end, with quarterly or periodic advance payments due during the year based on prior-year liability or estimated current-year results. VAT and payroll withholding are reported and remitted monthly. Tax audits are conducted by the General Directorate of Taxes on a risk basis, with the authority empowered to request supporting documentation, conduct on-site verification, and issue reassessments where declared income, deductions or transfer prices are found not to reflect the taxpayer's actual position. The general statute-of-limitations period for reassessment follows the General Tax Code and is typically several years from the filing deadline, extended in cases of fraud or non-filing.

7.2 Rulings, appeals and penalties

Taxpayers may seek administrative rulings or clarifications from the General Directorate of Taxes on the treatment of specific transactions, though a formal binding advance-ruling regime comparable to OECD practice is less developed than in mature treaty-network jurisdictions. Disputed assessments may be challenged first through administrative reconsideration within the tax administration and subsequently before the competent administrative courts. Penalties for late filing, late payment and understatement of tax are set by the General Tax Code as a percentage surcharge plus interest for the period of delay, with more severe penalties, including criminal sanctions in serious cases, for fraud or deliberate evasion.

Because the minimum tax is computed on turnover rather than profit, advance payments during the year are commonly benchmarked to turnover-based estimates to avoid material balances due (and associated interest) at the annual filing deadline. Taxpayers under the Intermediate Real Profit Regime should monitor turnover over rolling two-year periods to anticipate reclassification into the Normal Real Profit Regime.

9.1 Entity choice

The société à responsabilité limitée (SARL) is the most common vehicle for small and medium-sized operations, offering limited liability with modest minimum capital requirements under the OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies. The société anonyme (SA) suits larger operations, joint ventures and regulated sectors such as banking, insurance and mining, where minimum capital and governance requirements are more demanding. Branches of foreign companies are permitted and are taxed on Mauritanian-source profits under the same real-profit regime as locally incorporated companies, making the branch a viable entry vehicle for foreign investors, particularly in the extractive and services sectors, though many groups prefer local incorporation for liability-management and contracting reasons.

9.2 Structuring and incentives

Investors should evaluate eligibility for Investment Code incentives (temporary corporate tax relief, customs relief on capital goods, reduced registration duties) against job-creation, regional-development or export criteria, and, in the extractive sector, negotiate stabilisation and fiscal terms under the Mining Code or Petroleum Code alongside the general tax rules. Because the minimum tax is turnover-based, low-margin or capital-intensive early-stage projects should model cash-tax outcomes under both the profit-based and turnover-based limbs of the calculation, not just headline profitability. Related-party financing should be structured within the regulatory interest-rate cap and thin-capitalisation-style limits described in section 2.4 to preserve deductibility.

9.3 Worked effective-rate illustration

A Mauritanian company under the Normal Real Profit Regime has annual turnover of MRU 40,000,000 and net taxable profit of MRU 3,000,000. The profit-based tax is 25% x 3,000,000 = MRU 750,000. The turnover-based minimum is 2% x 40,000,000 = MRU 800,000. Because the turnover-based minimum (MRU 800,000) exceeds the profit-based tax (MRU 750,000), the company pays the higher amount: MRU 800,000. The effective rate on net taxable profit is therefore 800,000 / 3,000,000 = 26.7%, materially above the 25% headline rate, illustrating why margin-thin businesses in Mauritania bear a heavier effective burden than the statutory CIT rate alone would suggest. If the company distributes its after-tax profit of 3,000,000 − 800,000 = MRU 2,200,000 as a dividend, withholding tax at source further reduces the net cash return to shareholders.

9.4 Compliance

Expect monthly VAT and payroll-withholding compliance, periodic corporate tax advance payments benchmarked to turnover or prior-year liability, annual corporate and property-income tax returns, and CNSS social security filings. Companies in mining, petroleum and other regulated sectors face additional sector-specific reporting to the relevant ministries alongside standard tax filings. Given the narrower treaty network and less formalised advance-ruling practice than in mature OECD jurisdictions, taxpayers commonly rely on contemporaneous documentation, local tax counsel, and proactive engagement with the General Directorate of Taxes to manage audit risk, particularly around transfer pricing and the deductibility of related-party charges.