The evolution, through a toroidal magnetoactive plasma of the polarization of an electromagnetic wave and of the energy of the modes into which it splits, is analyzed here under the condition of negligible geometric refraction, also taking into account the possible wave absorption as a result of electron cyclotron resonances. The problem is reduced to the solution of a simple set of first‐order differential equations, avoiding both the complexity of the full Maxwell system and the limitations of a WKB treatment. This differential set is solved numerically, and its results are presented and discussed.