On 16th October 2018, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a list of the CRS-committed countries that offer Residence and citizenship by investment (CBI/RBI) schemes that could potentially be detrimental to the integrity of the Common Reporting Standards (CRS).

According to the OECD, CBI/RBI schemes could be misused to misrepresent individuals’ jurisdiction(s) of tax residence thus providing them with the possibility of shunning their obligations under the CRS, leading to inaccurate or incomplete reporting.

Whilst Mauritius was initially identified as one of the countries offering high-risk CBI/RBI schemes, the OECD overturned its assessment of the country nation and on 22nd October, the OECD removed Mauritius from the list of high risk jurisdictions offering residence/citizenship by investment scheme. This latest move by the OECD is a clear recognition of Mauritius’ endeavor to combat international tax avoidance and evasion and gives out a positive signal to the international investor community.

Please click Here to access the results of the assessment carried out by the OECD of over 100 CBI/RBI schemes, offered by CRS-committed jurisdictions.