Shareholders are the joint owners of a company in proportion to their shareholdings. They receive dividends also from the net profit from the company they have formed in the same proportion after paying all the taxes on behalf of the company at the highest slab of 33.99%. Why should they once again pay income tax on their joint income that is already taxed by giving it another name as dividend distribution tax at 16.99%? Mauritius is exempted from double taxation but our citizens are not. Say, I own 1000 shares of a company whose income before tax makes my share of 30,000/- as a shareholder. My other income during the year is 80,000/- only. Ideally, I should not pay even the corporate tax as a part owner of the company since my total income remains within the exemption limit of 1,10,000/-. Even if I pay that, I should at least get the refund of the distribution tax.
