How PAYE is calculated in Mauritius

PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is the income tax an employer in Mauritius deducts from an employee’s pay each month and pays over to the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA). The employer is responsible for calculating it correctly, so it is worth knowing how the figure is reached.

The method in four steps

1. Take the employee’s taxable monthly pay. This is basic salary plus taxable allowances, overtime and commission for the month.
2. Check the monthly exemption threshold. Below it, no PAYE is deducted.
3. Annualise. Multiply the month by 12, and take off any yearly deductions the employee claimed on their Employee Declaration Form.
4. Apply the tax bands to the yearly figure, then divide by 12. Each band taxes only the slice of income that falls inside it.

The current tax bands

TimePay charges no PAYE in a month where taxable pay is Rs 38,462 or less. The bands are progressive: a higher rate applies only to the part of income above each limit, never to the whole salary.

Figures on this page are the rates TimePay applies to payroll today (in force since 1 July 2026). They are updated here automatically when the rates change.

Worked example: Rs 60,000 a month

An employee earns Rs 60,000 a month in taxable pay and has no yearly deductions claimed. Yearly income is Rs 60,000 × 12 = Rs 720,000.

Yearly tax is Rs 22,000. Divided by 12, the PAYE to deduct that month is Rs 1,833.33.

Common mistakes

• Applying the top rate to the whole salary instead of only the slice above each limit.
• Forgetting to take off the deductions an employee declared on their Employee Declaration Form.
• Taxing a bonus as if it were a normal month. A one-off payment is taxed by the extra yearly tax it causes, not at the monthly rate multiplied by 12.
• Using last year’s bands after a budget changed them.