A Mauritian acquiring a newly built dwelling (apartment or house) from 1st September 2016 to 30th June 2020 for an amount not exceeding Rs 6 million will not have to pay the 5% registration duties. The exemption will also be granted if the dwelling is purchased off plan or during construction (i.e. under vente à terme through a SCIA or under vente en l’état futur d’achèvement-VEFA). This exemption will not apply to a property on Pas Géométriques (leasehold) or within a IRS, RES, PDS or IHS.
The upper limit of Rs 4 million of the value of a residence in a project registered with the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) under the Construction of Housing Estate Scheme is being raised to Rs 6 million. This amendment will allow promoters to build and sell residential units of up to Rs 6 million free of land transfer tax provided the sale is made to a Mauritian before 30th June 2020. No registration duty and land transfer tax is payable on acquisition of land for such a project. This Scheme will not apply to a property on Pas Géométriques (leasehold) or within the IRS, RES, PDS or IHS.
A Mauritian acquiring a newly built dwelling (apartment or house) from 1st September 2016 to 30th June 2020 for an amount not exceeding Rs 6 million will not have to pay the 5% registration duties. The exemption will also be granted if the dwelling is purchased off plan or during construction (i.e. under vente à terme through a SCIA or under vente en l’état futur d’achèvement-VEFA). This exemption will not apply to a property on Pas Géométriques (leasehold) or within a IRS, RES, PDS or IHS.
A Mauritian satisfying the following conditions may obtain a refund of VAT paid on the construction of a residential building by a building contractor or on the purchase of a new residence from a property developer: the cost of construction of the residential building or the purchase price of the new residence does not exceed Rs.4 million / the construction is completed by 30 June 2020 and can be on an existing building / the construction is not on land which is on Pas Géométriques (leasehold) or within an IRS, RES, PDS or IHS / the annual income of the applicant and his spouse does not exceed Rs.2 million / the VAT refund does not exceed Rs.500,000 / the production of relevant receipts to the MRA.
Non-citizens registered with the Board of Investment (BOI), subject to security clearance, will be allowed to acquire apartments (therefore not limited to one apartment only, but still in a Ground + 2 building) and rent them out. The Non-Citizens (Property Restriction) Act will be amended accordingly. This does not apply to apartments on Pas Géometrique (Leasehold).
No restriction on the maximum extent of land for development of a project (was restricted to 50 arpents) 100 % of residential units can be sold to non-citizens (previously, 25% had to be sold to Mauritians) Individual plot size for the construction of a villa has been extended to a maximum of 1.25 Arpent, i.e. 5275m2 (previously, maximum plot size was 2110m2).
A company with foreign shareholders wanting to buy property for business purposes, will not have to seek approval from Prime Minister’s Office if non-citizens in the company are holding not more than 25% of the shareholding.
