Guide · Income year 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026
How to prepare your IT01 return when you are self-employed
The IT01 is the yearly income tax return in Mauritius. If you earn fees, sales or rent, most of the work is in your bank statements. This guide gives the steps in order, and links each rule to its page in the Income Tax Act.
Last changed on 3 October 2026. This guide explains the law as it stands. It is not tax advice.
1. Know the two dates that matter
- The income year runs from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
- You send the return electronically and pay any tax by 15 October 2026. The Act sets this date as 15 October after the income year, in s.112(1).
- A statement of income for each quarter is necessary only if your gross income from business and rent in the last income year was more than Rs 4,000,000, s.106(2)(a). Most small businesses fall under that limit and only send the yearly return.
| Quarter | Statement and payment due |
|---|---|
| July to September | 2 days before the end of December, not counting Saturdays and public holidays |
| October to December | 31 March |
| January to March | 2 days before the end of June, not counting Saturdays and public holidays |
Source: s.106(1). There is no statement for April to June, because the yearly return covers it.
2. Gather your documents
- The bank statements of every account for all twelve months, including the account that receives your fees or sales.
- The statement of emoluments from each employer, if you also have a salary.
- The certificates for your reliefs: the premium for medical insurance, the interest on a housing loan, and your contributions to an approved personal pension scheme.
- The invoices for anything you bought for the business, such as a computer or a vehicle.
3. Sort every payment in your bank statements
This is the longest step, and the one where mistakes stay hidden. Each payment into your accounts is one of these:
- Income that counts: fees from clients, sales, rent, interest and dividends.
- Money that is already declared elsewhere, such as your salary, which your statement of emoluments covers.
- Money that is not income: transfers between your own accounts, loans, and refunds of things you paid for.
Payments out matter too. Some are costs of the business, and some can lower your tax as a relief. A cash deposit or a transfer with no clear purpose needs a decision from you, because the statement alone does not say what it was.
4. Work out the income of your business
Your business income is the gross income of the business less the expenses you had to earn it, such as supplies, rent of premises, the business part of bills, and bank charges. The return asks for the gross income and the expenses on their own lines.
5. Claim the reliefs you are entitled to
- A deduction for dependants: Rs 110,000 for one, Rs 190,000 for two, Rs 275,000 for three and Rs 355,000 for four or more. s.27(2), Third Schedule.
- Relief for medical insurance: up to Rs 25,000 for yourself and for your first dependant, and Rs 20,000 for each other dependant. s.27B.
- Contributions to an approved personal pension scheme: up to Rs 50,000. s.27DB.
- Donations paid electronically to an approved charity: up to Rs 100,000. s.27DA.
6. Apply the tax bands
| Chargeable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| First Rs 500,000 | 0% |
| Next Rs 500,000 | 10% |
| Above Rs 1,000,000 | 20% |
Source: s.4 and the First Schedule. Above Rs 12,000,000 of leviable income, a fair share contribution of 15% applies, s.16B.
7. Subtract the tax you already paid, then file
Tax withheld from your salary under PAYE, tax deducted at source from your fees, and any quarterly payments count against the tax for the year. What is left is what you pay by 15 October. You type the figures into the return on the authority's portal and submit it there.
8. Keep a record of how you got each figure
If the authority asks about your return later, you need to show where each figure came from: the payments behind it, and the rule that applies. Keep your statements and your workings together.
How IT01 AI does these steps for you
IT01 AI is an app for Mac, Windows and Linux. You drop in your bank statements and your statement of emoluments. It reads them on your computer, sorts every payment, asks only about what it cannot decide, works out the tax with each figure linked to the Act, and lists each field of the return in order. It also saves a record of every figure and the payments behind it. One payment of Rs 4,990, and the licence never expires.