Mauritius 2025–2026 budget: what is really changing, what has been revised, and the impact on real estate

Updated 2 September 2026. This article has been fully re-checked against the enacted legislation. Two Acts published in Government Gazette No. 59 of 13 August 2026 have changed part of what the 2025–2026 Budget had voted through: the Finance Act 2026 (Act No. 14 of 2026) and the Economic and Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 (Act No. 13 of 2026). The single most important change for foreign buyers: the doubling of transfer duties to 10% has been repealed.

The essentials, in three points

1. Transfer duties for non-citizens are back to 5%. The 2025–2026 Budget had legislated their increase from 5% to 10% with effect from 1 July 2026. The Finance Act 2026 removed that increase. The ordinary regime applies again: 5% registration duty payable by the buyer, 5% land transfer tax payable by the seller.

2. The 15% flat tax no longer applies to individuals. From the income year beginning 1 July 2026, a progressive four-band scale applies, with a top marginal rate of 35%. The 15% rate remains the corporate income tax rate and the rate of certain withholdings, but it is no longer the scale for individuals.

3. Residence through property has not moved. The USD 375,000 threshold in an approved scheme, and the routes to a residence permit, are unchanged. Neither the Finance Act 2026 nor Act No. 13 of 2026 touches them.

Transfer duties: what was enacted, then repealed

The Finance Act 2025 had written the 10% charge into two places: an increased registration duty (section 3(1G) of the Registration Duty Act and paragraph K of Part I of its First Schedule) and an increased land transfer tax (section 4(9) of the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act). Both targeted transfers to a non-citizen taking place on or after 1 July 2026, under an EDB scheme or through the G+2 route.

The Finance Act 2026 repealed all four provisions, through its sections 16(b), 16(e)(i) and 9(a)(i). Acquisitions under PDS, IRS, RES, the Invest Hotel Scheme and Smart City therefore revert to the ordinary regime.

A point of caution for the period from 1 July to 12 August 2026. The repeal is not retroactive: sections 9 and 16 appear in no paragraph of the Act’s commencement clause, so they took effect on publication, on 13 August 2026. The legislation provides neither a transitional provision nor any refund mechanism. As at 2 September 2026, neither the Mauritius Revenue Authority nor the Registrar-General has published a position on deeds falling in that period — we checked their communiqués in full. If your deed was signed or registered within that window, the only reliable answer is your notary’s. We give none here.

A new 10% duty, payable by the seller, with a narrow scope

The Finance Act 2026 does introduce an additional duty of 10%, through the new section 4(11) of the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act. Three points matter, because this measure is frequently misreported.

It is payable by the seller, not the buyer. It only covers residential property located on State land or on Pas Géométriques, transferred to a non-citizen through the G+2 route: the conditions are cumulative, most G+2 stock built on freehold land is not concerned, and the PDS, RES, IHS and Smart City schemes fall outside its scope. Finally, it is in addition to the 5% land transfer tax, which is also borne by the transferor: the total cost to the seller is therefore in the region of 15%, not 10%.

The only exemption provided: a reservation contract or a promise of sale drawn up and signed before a notary prior to 19 June 2026. Both conditions are cumulative. A long-standing owner reselling today to a non-citizen is therefore not exempt.

G+2 apartments on State land: an announcement, not yet law

The Budget Speech of 19 June 2026, at paragraphs 180 and 181, announces that the State will no longer grant leases under the G+2 Scheme authorising the sale to foreigners of apartments built on State land or on Pas Géométriques. Leases already approved, and resale by a current owner, are not covered.

That announcement has not been carried into either of the two August 2026 Acts: the Non-Citizens (Property Restriction) Act is unamended. But it concerns lease-granting policy, which requires no legislation and therefore applies in practice. No EDB implementing circular has been identified to date. The practical consequence: for a new seafront development, the status of the land and the existence of the lease must be verified project by project with the EDB before any commitment. Many Mauritian coastal developments sit on Pas Géométriques.

Buying and residing as a foreigner: what has not changed

This is the point that August’s wave of commentary left in the shade. The routes to residence through property are intact. Section 8(1) of the Immigration Act 2022 is amended neither by the Finance Act 2026 nor by Act No. 13 of 2026.

Its paragraphs (d) and (e) open the residence permit to acquisitions under IRS, RES, the Invest Hotel Scheme, PDS or Smart City from USD 375,000, with the permit extending to the spouse, dependent child, parent and any other dependant. Paragraph (f) covers an apartment used as a residence in a building of at least two floors above ground level, from USD 375,000. Paragraph (fa) covers PDS senior living, from USD 200,000, for applicants over 50.

Do not confuse the two thresholds — this is the most common error. The Rs 6 million in the Non-Citizens (Property Restriction) Act is the threshold that allows a foreigner to buy a G+2 apartment. The USD 375,000 in the Immigration Act is the threshold that opens the residence permit. A purchase at Rs 6 million is perfectly lawful and confers no right of residence. Note too that the Rs 6 million threshold can be changed by regulation alone, without a finance act.

Two exit constraints are rarely mentioned: resale by a non-citizen requires the EDB’s prior no-objection, and the next buyer must file a fresh acquisition application under the same procedure.

Income tax: the end of the flat tax for individuals

The Finance Act 2026, through its section 7(v), replaces Part I of the First Schedule to the Income Tax Act. For the income year beginning 1 July 2026 and every subsequent year, the scale for individuals becomes progressive: 0% on the first Rs 500,000, 10% on the next Rs 500,000, 20% on the next Rs 11 million, and 35% on the remainder.

No sunset clause is attached to the 35% band. The 15% rate remains the corporate income tax rate and the rate of certain withholdings, but describing Mauritius as a “15% flat tax” jurisdiction for individuals is no longer accurate.

Fair Share Contribution: it is still due this year. Contrary to what is circulating, it has not been repealed. The Finance Act 2026, through its section 7(b), merely deleted the words “and for the subsequent 2 income years” in section 16C(3). The 15% contribution on net income above Rs 12 million therefore remains due for the income year ended 30 June 2026, and is paid with the return due by 15 October 2026. It no longer applies to the year beginning 1 July 2026, where the 35% band takes over.

For companies, the Fair Share Contribution is maintained, in Part XC of the Value Added Tax Act. The Finance Act 2026 removed the turnover condition: the sole criterion becomes chargeable income above Rs 24 million. Its scope is therefore widened, not narrowed.

Wealth and estates: what remains true

A full-text search of both 2026 Acts confirms: no capital gains tax on property, no wealth tax, no inheritance or gift duty. These three structural features are intact.

One point of honesty on “property tax”. Mauritius has no recurrent national property tax on residential real estate, but the claim of “0%” is not strictly accurate. There is the campement site tax, of Rs 2 to Rs 6 per square metre per year on campement sites in designated coastal areas, due by 31 July; and the municipal local rate, limited to the five municipal areas and from which the principal residence is exempt. The coastal areas where most of the stock aimed at foreign buyers is located fall under district councils and escape the local rate.

On the history, one correction is needed, because it circulates the wrong way round. The measure announced in the 2025–2026 Budget had two limbs: the 30% charge on the gain was never enacted, but the 10% charge was indeed enacted, as registration duty and land transfer tax, and only disappeared in August 2026. Writing that it never entered the law is false.

Permits and residence: the real August 2026 changes

Act No. 13 of 2026 replaced the Occupation Permit criteria in the First Schedule to the EDB Act. For the investor, the former USD 50,000 category disappears in favour of a single USD 100,000 threshold, with turnover of Rs 5 million from year 3 and Rs 8 million from year 5 for renewal. For the professional, ProPass and Expert Pass merge, with a basic monthly salary of Rs 50,000 harmonised across all sectors. For the self-employed, the threshold is USD 50,000, with turnover of Rs 2 million then Rs 3 million. A Technical category is created — the only measure whose commencement still awaits a Proclamation that has not yet been made. The Family Occupation Permit is abolished throughout.

Mind the calendar: the clause protecting a professional Occupation Permit holder by assessing them against the former criteria at their first renewal only comes into force on 1 October 2026. Between 13 August and 30 September 2026, that protection does not exist in law.

One favourable change, little commented on and yet important for a buyer settling in Mauritius: Act No. 13 of 2026 removes the Minister’s absolute discretion to deprive a foreigner of resident status, by repealing section 18(2) of the Immigration Act 2022. Deprivation is now possible only on an exhaustive list of grounds, and the cancellation of a visa is likewise constrained. This is a real gain in legal certainty.

The tightened permanent residence criteria — five years of permit, Rs 15 million a year or Rs 75 million cumulatively for the investor, Rs 400,000 a month for the professional — have been in force since 9 August 2025, and not since December 2025 as is often stated. The property route itself remains free of any minimum duration or income condition.

The Golden Visa is not a property route

The Golden Visa opens access to a permanent residence permit after an investment of one million dollars made within twelve months. But the enacted text is explicit: the investment must be made in a business activity other than the acquisition of a residential property under the EDB property schemes. Presenting the Golden Visa as a property gateway would be contrary to the law.

The features that circulate — two-year validity, an annual quota, five-day processing, a list of eligible sectors — appear in neither of the two 2026 Acts. They are government announcements, with no Government Notice published to date.

Other measures useful to owners

The obligation to set aside 2% of green space for morcellements of more than 20 lots is removed, without retroactive effect. A temporary tourist accommodation certificate is created, with a decision from the authority within 21 days and compliance within 90 days, and an “outdoor accommodation” category appears. Searches of the Registrar-General’s property database rise from Rs 200 to Rs 300 per day and from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per monthly subscription, while the deposit required to contest a revaluation is now capped at 5% of the amount claimed or Rs 5 million, whichever is lower. Electronic registration is opened to attorneys-at-law, until now reserved to notaries.

The tourist tax of EUR 3 per tourist per night applies from age 12, but holders of a valid residence permit are exempt, as are Mauritian residents and Premium Visa holders. Finally, the raised first-time-buyer exemption thresholds — Rs 3 million for bare land and Rs 6 million for built property — are reserved to Mauritian citizens: no foreign buyer qualifies.

A word on method

Two traps were confirmed while verifying this file, and they apply to any reader who wishes to check these facts independently.

First, the consolidated versions of the laws published by the Attorney-General’s Office do not yet incorporate the August 2026 texts. Consulted on 2 September 2026, they still show the 10% registration duty, the Family Occupation Permit and the former Occupation Permit thresholds — all repealed. The enacted Acts themselves must be read.

Second, a large share of the analyses published in July 2026 is already out of date, including from leading international firms, some of which still state that the 10% registration duty applies. We rely here solely on the enacted texts.

Sources

Finance Act 2026 — Act No. 14 of 2026, enacted text · Economic and Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 — Act No. 13 of 2026 · Budget Speech 2026–2027, 19 June 2026 · Annex to the Budget 2026–2027 · Mauritius Revenue Authority.

Further reading

Budget 2026–2027: the measures for the current financial year · PDS, IRS, RES, G+2 and Smart City: how to buy · Properties accessible to foreigners · Permits and visas in Mauritius.

This article is an informative summary based on the enacted legislation and the official budget documents, verified as at 2 September 2026. It does not constitute tax, legal or notarial advice. The exact costs of an acquisition should be confirmed with the instructing notary before signature. Contact Westimmo.