Achieving Tax Optimisation through Effective Tax Planning
- 23rd May 2025
- 8:30 am to 4:15 pm
- Hennessy Park Hotel
- MUR 18,000 (HRDC refundable)
- MQA in progress
- CPD: 7.5 units
Objectives of the course
The main objective of the course is to assist participants to understand the mechanism of tax planning and adopt the appropriate tax planning skills. Through this course, participants will be provided with insights into various aspects of the subject matter including the following:
- Ways to organise and categorise tax planning structures and techniques.
- The boundary between acceptable tax planning and unacceptable tax planning (i.e. aggressive tax planning/immoral tax avoidance).
- Changes in tax law that may affect tax planning.
- How to effectively address international tax optimisation, transfer pricing compliance and anti-avoidance measures.
Learning Outcomes
- At the end of the training, participants will be able to:
- Understand the important tax and non-tax considerations in tax planning.
- Understand the key principles of tax planning.
- Understand the mechanisms available in increasing tax efficiency.
- Analyse and discuss the requirements of tax planning structures considering legal, commercial, regulatory as well as domestic and international tax rules.
- Appreciate the common tax structures used in holding and financing activities including structures using an intermediate company, a foreign subsidiary/branch.
- Apply the tax planning skills prudently to relevant arrangements.
- Ensure conformity with the arm’s length principle and deal effectively with the anti-avoidance provisions of the Mauritius Income Tax Act and VAT Act.
Course Contents
- What is tax planning, its importance and the fundamental concepts that underpin it?
- How to distinguish between tax planning and tax avoidance & tax evasion?
- Income Tax planning for employment /self-employment situations.
- CSG, NSF and PRGF contributions planning for employment situations.
- The choice of business medium.
- Methods of extracting profits from a company including tax efficient profit extraction.
- Planning for corporate growth and its tax implications.
- Tax avoidance on business splitting as opposed to acceptable tax planning for VAT.
- The anti-avoidance provisions of the Mauritius Income Tax Act and VAT Act.
- Application of the arm’s length test under section 75 of the Mauritius Income Tax Act.
- The role of tax treaties in tax planning, tax avoidance and tax evasion.
- Effectiveness of Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) on mitigating corporate tax avoidance for multinational companies including Guidelines issued by the MRA on CbCR.
- Objectives and main elements of the Principal Purpose Test (PPT) included in the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) to assist tax authorities to prevent any “treaty abuse”.
- Principles developed by case law on tax planning/tax avoidance.
- Some tax planning tips worth to consider.
- Knowledge check – Test Your Knowledge Questions, MCQs, Practical Questions and Case Studies.
Terms and conditions:
- Payment in full should be received before the start of the training (23rd May 2025). Invoice and documents require for HRDC application will be provided after receipt of the registration form.
- Refund policy:
- Within 15 days: 30% of the invoice total will be charged.
- Within 10 days: 50% of the invoice total will be charged.
- Within 5 working days: 100% of the invoice total will be charged.
- A full refund will be made in case the training is cancelled by organisers.
- A certificate of attendance will be issued provided the participants have followed at least 80% of the training.
- Participants are not permitted to record the training and to share any document which will be distributed to them.
MEET THE TRAINER
MARIO HANNELAS
Head of Tax Advisory department at DTOS
A former Top Executive from the Mauritius Revenue Authority with more than 40 years’ experience in taxation, Mr Hannelas has occupied various positions in the Mauritius Public Service, such as Chief Investigating Officer at the Income Tax Department, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Commissioner of Large Taxpayer Department and as the Technical Adviser on International Taxation to the Director General of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA). He is a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of UK and holds a post graduate diploma (DESS) in Tax Administration from the University of Paris Dauphine, France and is a member of the Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants (MIPA).
