Mauritius: residence through property and a genuinely simple tax system
One of the few places where buying a home in a designated scheme really does carry residence for the family — and where the tax system is simple enough to describe in a paragraph.
Mauritius is one of the few jurisdictions where buying a home genuinely carries residence, and where the tax system can be described accurately in a short paragraph.
The property routes
Foreigners buy within designated schemes rather than on the open market. The principal ones are the integrated resort and real estate schemes, the property development scheme, ground plus two apartment developments, and the smart city scheme. Purchase above a defined value in a qualifying scheme carries residence for the buyer, spouse and dependants for as long as the property is held.
- Below the threshold, ownership is permitted in some schemes without residence attached.
- The permit ends with the sale — the standard condition everywhere.
- Land outside the schemes is generally not available to foreign individuals.
The other routes
- The occupation permit for investors, professionals and self-employed, combining work and residence.
- The retired non-citizen permit on evidenced transfers of funds into the country.
- Permanent residence after qualifying years on these permits, or directly on a larger investment.
The tax position
- A flat personal income tax at a low headline rate, with a higher band on larger incomes.
- No capital gains tax, no inheritance tax.
- Foreign income is taxed on a remittance-influenced basis for some categories; the detail matters and is worth advice.
- An extensive treaty network, historically built around India and Africa, which is what made the jurisdiction a financial centre.
What to weigh
It is a small island in the Indian Ocean, several hours from anywhere, with a property market entirely dependent on foreign demand within scheme boundaries. The buyer pool at exit is other foreigners under whatever the rules are then. Healthcare and schooling are adequate rather than deep, which matters for a family and for someone ageing.
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Against that: political stability by regional standards, English and French both usable, a bilingual legal system, and a genuinely simple route in for a family that wants the Indian Ocean rather than the Mediterranean.
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Related reading
Neighbouring write-ups in this section and news on the same subject.
Citizenship and taxes: when a passport creates a lifelong duty
Tax is usually owed where you live, not where your passport was issued — but the exceptions are expensive. Where citizenship alone triggers filing duties and an exit tax.
How states verify that you actually live there
Residence requirements are enforced with data rather than with interviews, and the data comes from ordinary life. Knowing what is looked at is the whole of the compliance.
Digital nomad visas: what they solve and what they quietly create
Dozens of countries now offer one. They fix the immigration problem cleanly and, in doing so, make you visible to the tax authority you were previously invisible to.
Registering a company abroad: when it gives status and when it gets in the way
A company is the most common instrument used to obtain residence and one of the most common ways people acquire obligations they did not want.
Bulgaria: what happened to its investment route, and why people still go
The fast-track citizenship route was abolished in 2022. The country that remains is an EU and Schengen member with the lowest flat tax in the Union.
Spain after the golden visa: the non-lucrative visa and the Beckham regime
Closing the investor route did not close Spain. Two other instruments carry most of the people who would have used it, and they ask for different things.
This write-up is published for information only. It is not legal or tax advice and does not replace a qualified adviser in the relevant jurisdiction. Programme terms, timelines and requirements change — check them against the rules in force on the day you apply.