Section 83: Deceased persons

83. Deceased persons (1) Where a taxpayer dies, every person specified in subsection (3) shall, subject to subsections (2), (4), (5) and (6), be liable to income tax on all income derived by the taxpayer in his lifetime in the same manner in which the taxpayer would have been liable had he remained alive, and shall be deemed to be an agent of the deceased taxpayer. (2) The income tax payable in accordance with subsection (1) shall be reduced by— (a) 50,000 rupees; or continued on page I5 – 47 I5 – 46 (11) [Issue 7] Revised Laws of Mauritius (b) an amount equivalent to half of any lump sum payable under any enactment on the death of the taxpayer by way of death gratuity or in commutation of pension or from a superannuation fund, whichever is the higher. (3) The persons specified for the purpose of subsection (1) shall be— (a) an heir who accepts the succession of the deceased simply (purement et simplement) or under benefit of inventory; (b) a surviving spouse; (c) a universal legatee; (d) an executor; (e) a notary acting as liquidator of the succession of the deceased; (f) where there is no person specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), a legatee or donee; and (g) where he is vested with the vacant succession of the deceased, the Curator of Vacant Estates. (4) Where a person specified in subsection (3) has distributed the whole of the estate of the deceased taxpayer and thereafter a change occurs in the rate of income tax, he shall not be liable for any additional income tax resulting from the change. (5) A person specified in subsection (3) (a), (b), or (f) shall not be liable under subsection (1) to any income tax in excess of his share in the estate of the deceased taxpayer. (6) Nothing in this section shall affect the rights of a person specified in subsection (3) over or against any heir, surviving spouse or legatee. [S. 83 amended by s. 18 (y) of Act 15 of 2006 w.e.f. 1 July 2006.] PART VII – ANTI-AVOIDANCE PROVISIONS