Buying IRS, RES or PDS Property on Resale in Mauritius: What Changes
What really changes between buying new and buying a resale IRS, RES or PDS unit in Mauritius: registration duty, VAT, the 85/15 rule, residency threshold.
Buying a resale IRS, RES or PDS property in Mauritius is open to foreigners on the same eligibility terms as buying new, but two costs move: for IRS and RES, the registration duty loses the USD 70,000 cap that applies only to a first-time buyer, and the seller owes a 5% land transfer tax that the official schedule never charges a developer selling its first units. Everything else stays the same — no VAT on the price, same residency threshold.
Who can sell, who can buy
An owner of an IRS, RES or PDS residential property is free to resell it. Before doing so, they must give the Economic Development Board (EDB) written notice at least 30 days ahead, with a copy to the original IRS, RES or PDS company. The buyer can be a non-citizen, a Mauritian citizen, a registered foreign or local company, a société whose deed is filed with the Registrar of Companies, or a trust with a trustee licensed by the Financial Services Commission.
A resale buyer files the same application with the EDB as a first-time buyer — same documents, same MUR 25,000 processing fee. Nothing is simplified because the property already had an owner.
The residency threshold doesn’t move
A residence permit is only granted to a non-citizen if the property’s value exceeds USD 375,000, or its equivalent in another freely convertible currency. The EDB’s text draws no distinction between a first purchase and a resale: a unit bought below that threshold doesn’t unlock a residence permit, whether it’s new or resold. See also our comparison of PDS and IRS and our breakdown of the Golden Visa, which relies on the same threshold for a different route.
What actually costs more on resale: registration duty
The EDB’s official schedule treats a first purchase and a resale differently, and for IRS and RES the gap isn’t small.
| Scheme | First purchase — duty paid by buyer | Resale — duty paid by buyer | Resale — land transfer tax paid by seller |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRS | USD 70,000 or 5% of value, whichever is lower | 5% of value, uncapped | 5% of value |
| RES | USD 70,000 or 5% of value, whichever is lower | 5% of value, uncapped | 5% of value |
| PDS | 5% of value, uncapped from the first sale | 5% of value | 5% of value |
Take a USD 2,000,000 IRS or RES villa as an example: a first-time buyer pays USD 70,000 in registration duty, capped by the rule. The exact same unit bought on resale costs the buyer USD 100,000 in duty — USD 30,000 more for a strictly identical property. The seller, in turn, pays USD 100,000 in land transfer tax, a charge the EDB’s schedule never lists for an IRS or RES company selling its first units. For PDS, the resale gap disappears entirely, because the cap never existed in the first place: registration duty stays at 5% either way, which makes reselling a PDS unit mechanically less costly than reselling an IRS or RES one once the price passes USD 1.4 million — the point where 5% of value overtakes the USD 70,000 cap. Full detail on registration duty and notary fees outside the EDB schemes is in our registration duty and notary fees guide.
Neither a new nor a resold unit pays VAT on the price
The sale or transfer of residential immovable property sits on the Mauritius Revenue Authority’s (MRA) list of VAT-exempt transactions, with no distinction between a first sale and a resale. The one exception in that same text: a non-residential property sold by a VAT-registered developer to a VAT-registered buyer, a case that never applies to an individual buying a home. The 15% VAT rate still applies to notary fees and, typically, to agency commissions — never to the price of the property itself.
The 85/15 rule only applies to a purchase from the promoter
Since December 2024, a non-citizen buying under IRS, RES or PDS must transfer funds from abroad in hard currency, then pay 85% of the price in Mauritian rupees and the remaining 15% in hard currency or rupees. The EDB’s text frames this rule as a payment made “to the promoter” — it governs money paid to an IRS, RES or PDS company, not a transaction between private individuals. A resale buyer still falls under the standard currency-transfer and repatriation rules that apply to any non-citizen purchase, but not under this specific 85/15 split reserved for first-time buyers.
What changes in the transaction itself
A first purchase under IRS, RES or PDS almost always follows a sale in a future state of completion or a forward sale, with payments called up in stages as construction proceeds — see our comparison of buying completed versus off-plan. A resale involves a unit that’s already built and delivered: no construction schedule to track, no delay risk, and the buyer can take possession or rent it out as soon as the deed is signed. Another practical difference: on a new IRS, PDS or G+2 development, the agency commission is usually covered by the developer, while a resale carries the market-standard rate, 2% of the price plus 15% VAT — full detail in our page on real estate agency fees. Price itself is no longer set by a developer’s price list: it’s negotiated freely between seller and buyer, with no single official reference — our property prices in Mauritius guide gives a sense of the range by area. To compare against what’s currently on offer new, see our selection of new developments in Mauritius.
Securing the purchase before signing
Three concrete checks before committing to a resale IRS, RES or PDS property: that the seller actually sent the EDB their 30-day notice before signing, that the value stated in the deed genuinely exceeds USD 375,000 if a residence permit is part of the plan, and that the agent handling the deal is registered with the Real Estate Agent Authority — now verifiable online, as detailed in our guide to REAA registration. The notary remains the mandatory checkpoint for registering the fund transfer and paying the duty.
Sources and verification
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