VAT GST in Mauritania

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

2026 research draft, source baseline only. The computations below reproduce the cited official code/provisions, not a certified complete statement of operative 2026 law. The January 2023 official code lists amendments only through the January 2022 Finance Act. Selected later Finance Acts were read, including the 2024 transfer-pricing replacement, but the complete commencement/publication chain is not closed. The signed/stamped rectifying Finance Act is visibly numbered 2026-035 on physical page 6. It changes material expense, digital-service and compliance rules; the retained comparison-column headings do not establish proposal status, and its upload date does not prove the operative date. [N02] Resolve the amendment file before using these baselines to file, pay or advise. No accountant has signed this revision.

Who this applies to

Independent suppliers/importers carrying out ordinary VAT-taxable business. This Guide reproduces the code baseline plus the 2023 telephony-rate replacement. Digital-service changes in the August 2026 publication are not safe to treat as operative without commencement/implementation reconciliation. Do not apply ordinary VAT automatically to services excluded under baseline art. 214.

Rates, bands and thresholds

Item	Rule and conditions	Official source
Ordinary VAT scope [V01]	VAT covers independent taxable operations under arts. 209–211. Ordinary authority to invoice VAT begins at annual turnover excluding tax of MRU 3,000,000 or more; importers are subject regardless of turnover. Below-threshold release requires two consecutive years below.	CGI art. 211
Threshold crossing [V02]	If turnover crosses the limit during the year, VAT is due from the day of crossing. Notify DGI before the end of the following month; declare/pay VAT on the crossing month no later than the VAT for that following month. Do not charge retrospectively on every earlier sale solely because the year total exceeds the limit.	CGI art. 211(3)
Rates [V03]	The ordinary rate is 16% and taxable-person exports of goods/services use 0%; the 2023 rectifying Act adds 18% for telephony. Zero rating preserves deduction subject to the deduction rules; exemption is a separate classification.	CGI art. 230 as replaced by LFR2023 art. 3.1

The base

• Supply location [V04]. Goods are located where present at delivery, with the imported-goods and installed-goods rules in art. 217; real-property works are located where executed. Services are taxable where performed or, if performed abroad, used/exploited in Mauritania; export-service treatment and immovable/event exceptions require art. 219. Without proof of foreign location, art. 220 deems location Mauritania. CGI arts. 216–220.
• Exclusions and exemptions [V05]. Art. 214 excludes operations subject to financial-operations tax/special insurance tax and, in the baseline text, nonresident services subject to art. 132 withholding. Art. 215 exempts specified medical/hospital services, approved education and listed foods with detailed conditions. Do not turn those lists into a universal basic-food or imported-service exemption. The 2026 digital-services changes need separate reconciliation. CGI arts. 214–215.
• VAT point and cash/debit distinction [V06]. For goods, follow delivery; imports become payable on release for consumption; services normally become payable on receipt of price/advances; works on execution or earlier receipt. Express DGI authorisation is needed for debit accounting, applying to all operations, from the next month; read its duration/revocation rules. CGI arts. 227–229.
• Input VAT controls [V07]. Deduct only tax attributable to eligible taxable activity under arts. 231–243. Keep paid import entries or separately stated regular invoices. Subject to any applicable ministerial dispensing list for public/state enterprises under art. 243(2), a taxable supplier must give a VAT-liability certificate to a taxable customer; without the required certificate the customer cannot deduct. The current dispensing list and which entities qualify are not established here. Read exclusions and mixed-use allocation before computing. CGI arts. 231–243, especially art. 243(2) final paragraph.

Deadlines and filing

• Returns, payment and deduction schedule [V08]. File monthly, including a Néant return where no activity, and pay by the 15th of the following month. The return records turnover, taxable operations, eligible input and net tax, with signed/stamped purchase/import deduction details under art. 249. An omitted/incorrect deduction schedule causes disallowance that the text bars from later corrective/repeated deduction. CGI arts. 249–250, 254.
• Credits and refunds [V09]. Carry excess input tax forward under art. 244. Refunds are limited to art. 245 eligible cases, notably exporters and loss of taxable status, subject to art. 246: written request, at least MRU 100,000, three preceding credit returns and no current spot/general audit. Do not promise every credit a cash refund. CGI arts. 244–247.

Penalties and interest

• Nil/credit return penalty [V10]. A late nil/credit VAT return costs MRU 2,000 per month; MRU 10,000 where prior-year turnover exceeds MRU 30,000,000. Omissions/inaccuracies are separately covered by L.133 at 40% of compromised tax, rising to 80% where good faith cannot be accepted. LPF arts. L.131(2), L.133.
• Recovery penalty trigger [C16]. For a spontaneous-payment tax covered by a recovery notice, L.136(1) gives a 10% principal surcharge, counted from the fourth day after notification of that notice. It is not a daily interest rate or an automatic charge starting on the ordinary return due date. LPF art. L.136(1).

Cross-border points

For a foreign supplier, first resolve arts. 214 and 219–221 and the later digital-services changes. The baseline representative/client mechanism is in cross-border; it is not a universal reverse charge that overrides a statutory exclusion.

Two worked examples that recompute

1. Ordinary VAT with allowed input

Assume the baseline ordinary rate applies to collected taxable consideration MRU 100,000 excluding VAT and all MRU 8,000 input VAT is eligible with required documents/certificate. Output VAT 16,000 minus input 8,000 gives 8,000 due. A missing certificate prevents treating the assumed input as allowed.

name: Ordinary VAT with allowed input
inputs:
  sales: 100000
  allowed_input: 8000
steps:
  - output: sales * 0.16
  - due: max(0, output - allowed_input)
  - credit: max(0, allowed_input - output)
expected:
  output: 16000
  due: 8000
  credit: 0

2. Choose credit carryforward rather than assume refund

Assume ordinary taxable outputs MRU 40,000 excluding VAT and eligible input VAT 10,000. Output 6,400 gives a credit 3,600. Carry it forward; even if the activity were an eligible exporter, 3,600 is below the baseline 100,000 refund threshold and the other conditions still need checking.

name: Choose credit carryforward rather than assume refund
inputs:
  sales: 40000
  allowed_input: 10000
steps:
  - output: sales * 0.16
  - credit: max(0, allowed_input - output)
  - threshold_shortfall: max(0, 100000 - credit)
expected:
  credit: 3600
  threshold_shortfall: 96400

Ask the client first

• What is supplied, where performed/used and where are goods located?
• Turnover history, threshold-crossing date, import status and VAT registration?
• Is this telephony, an export, an exempt operation or a special digital supply?
• Cash received/advances, invoicing and any express debit-accounting authorisation?
• Input documents, supplier VAT certificate, activity allocation and credit history?

Sources

Source and exact scope read	URL	Read on
cgi2023: Official version cover/amendment list and selected CGI arts. 1–14, 23–24, 40–48, 49–67, 68–98, 99–118, 119–137, 150–157, 209–215 (exemption list introductory categories only), 216–221, 227–250, 253–254, LPF L.131–L.139. Not the entire 168-page code or full sector/special regimes.	https://finances.gov.mr/sites/default/files/2023-03/CGI-Fr-2023.pdf	2026-11-01
lfr2023: Art. 3.1 replacement art. 230, annual-return art. 59 addition and telecommunication-tax text, printed pp. 4–6. Front tax-page enactment scan not read; no asserted date of commencement.	https://www.finances.gov.mr/sites/default/files/2023-08/LFR%202023-FR%20Final%201%20-%20Copie_0.pdf	2026-11-01
Amendment hold: signed/stamped law 2026-035 identity on physical page 6 and art. 3.1 printed pp. 6–18 read; operative date not established	https://www.finances.gov.mr/sites/default/files/2026-08/LFR%202026%20FR.pdf	2026-11-01

Not yet confirmed: full operative 2026 changes to digital-service place of supply, foreign supplier/platform collection and simplified filing; current electronic return boxes, confirmation/payment-reference sequence and exemption certificate workflow; current art. 243(2) ministerial public/state-enterprise certificate dispensing list; full item/HS exemption list, all mixed-use/input exclusions and refund implementation; an unconditional reverse charge on all imported services, which the baseline art. 214 exclusion contradicts.