My colleagues and I were discussing about tax e-filing today as the deadline of 30 September 2016 is approaching.

Previously, the Mauritius Revenue Authority would allow tax payers to file their returns online without having the need to create an account on the MRA Tax Payer portal. That facility is not available anymore. If you visit the portal you’re prompted a login box with no registration option neither any option to submit tax returns without registering.

There is no clear indication on the webpage regarding e-filing changes or how to obtain an account; except the next obvious idea would be to try using the “Forgot Password” feature. I did so and at three consecutive attempts I obtained a HTTP Status 500 error.

On the homepage of the Mauritius Revenue Authority website there is their Twitter handle. Naturally I tweeted them about the error.

A few minutes later I tried again, then I was able to complete the password reset. At the end of the process I was prompted that my password will be sent shortly by post. I wondered how long could “shortly” actually be.

I sent an email to the Mauritius Revenue Authority enquiring about the ETA for password by post.

When I reached home in the evening I was surprised to find the password had already arrived by post.

That was freaking awesome! ?

While I await the reply to my email to the Mauritius Revenue Authority, I am glad to find that our local postal service operates faster than email. I’m joking! ?