What the TAN is
The TAN is the number Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) assigns to a taxpayer in Mauritius. It follows you across every tax you deal with: VAT, income tax and withholding. Businesses that pay you will ask for it before they release payment, because they report their suppliers to Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) by this number.
Who needs one
Mauritius issues two numbers and a business in practice needs both. The Tax Account Number (TAN) is the MRA's own 8-digit identifier. The Business Registration Number (BRN) comes from the Registrar of Companies and Businesses, not the MRA. Every person carrying on business in Mauritius must be registered under the Business Registration Act and holds a BRN; a company or commercial partnership is deemed registered and its incorporation number is its BRN. You need a TAN if tax is withheld from you under PAYE or deducted at source, if you have chargeable income, if your net income exceeds Rs 500,000 or your gross business income exceeds Rs 2 million, and to register for VAT or with MRA Customs. Failing to arrange to obtain a TAN is an offence under section 148(1)(aa) of the Income Tax Act. Once you register for VAT the MRA does not issue a third number: your VAT Registration Number is your TAN.
How to register, step by step
- Register the business first. Register with the Registrar of Companies and Businesses through CBRIS (cbris.mns.global) at least 2 days before you start trading; a company or commercial partnership is registered on incorporation. The Registrar allocates the BRN and issues a business registration card, a certified copy of which must be displayed at every place of business.
- For an individual TAN, go to mra.mu, click e-SERVICES, then Individual under 'File and Pay', then 'Application for TAN'.
- Fill the three screens — PERSONAL INFORMATION (name, National ID or passport, BRN if any, marital status, residential and business address, contact details, nature of trade), then REASONS FOR APPLYING TAN, then DECLARATION. Submit. The TAN arrives by email at the address you entered.
- For a company, do not use that form. Apply for the TAN by email to registration@mra.mu.
- Register for VAT separately once your turnover of taxable supplies exceeds or is likely to exceed Rs 3 million, using Simplified VAT Registration on the MRA site (sign in with your NID, BRN or TAN). The MRA then issues a Certificate of Registration and a distinctive mark, which must be displayed conspicuously at each business premises, and allocates a VAT Registration Number identical to your TAN.
How to find or check a TAN
To recover a lost individual TAN: open the Taxpayer Portal from mra.mu, choose 'Retrieve your TAN', enter your NID (Mauritian citizens) or NCID (non-citizens), and the TAN is displayed on screen at once. To check somebody else's VAT number, the MRA publishes a List of VAT Registered Persons giving name, trading name, BRN and VAT Registration Number for every registered person — it is a downloadable PDF from the VAT section of mra.mu, is required by section 17(3) of the VAT Act, and is updated quarterly (the current edition is as at 30 June 2026 and runs to roughly 36,000 entries). MRA also publishes a list of VAT-registered persons who have not filed a return. There is no name-by-name search box; it is a document you search yourself.