Mauritius

Not in the way the marketing still claims. The Budget 2026-27, delivered on 19 June 2026, replaced the temporary Fair Share Contribution with a permanent 35% top band on chargeable income above MUR 12m. The famous 15% flat rate is gone. The bands now run 0% up to MUR 500k, 10% on the next MUR 500k, 20% from MUR 1m to 12m, and 35% above that. What survives is genuinely valuable. There is no capital gains tax on shares, securities, crypto or property held by individuals, no wealth tax, and no inheritance or estate duty. But any adviser still pitching Mauritius as a flat-15% jurisdiction is working from out-of-date material.

No physical presence is required for the permit itself. The catch runs the other way. Spending 183 days in a tax year, or 270 days across three years, makes you Mauritian tax-resident, which for most applicants is the whole point of the exercise. That status now costs 35% at the top. The Investor Occupation Permit's real obligation is commercial, not residential. The turnover tests apply regardless of where you sleep, and the EDB reviews compliance in year five and can revoke the permit.

No. There is no citizenship-by-investment programme in Mauritius, and there never has been. A USD 1m Sovereign Fund contribution route was announced in the 2018 Budget Speech, but it was never legislated or opened. The only path to a Mauritian passport is naturalisation. If a firm quotes you a price for Mauritius citizenship by investment, it is either misinformed or misleading you. Treat that as a disqualifying signal about the adviser.

Generally not. A naturalising alien must renounce their existing nationality and take the oath of allegiance, unless granted special ministerial approval. Mauritians by origin have held dual nationality since 1995, but naturalised citizens have not. This is the single most misrepresented fact about Mauritius in the citizenship industry. Even the discretionary two-year naturalisation route, available where at least USD 500,000 has been invested, still triggers renunciation. So it is not a safe add-a-passport play for a multi-citizenship family.

Under the Finance Act 2025, the Investor Occupation Permit still stood at USD 50,000. The Budget 2026-27, published on 19 June 2026, doubles the minimum initial investment to USD 100,000 and resets the turnover tests to MUR 5m from year 3 and MUR 8m from year 5. Those changes require the Finance Act 2026, which had not yet been enacted as of 15 July 2026. Applicants filing during this window should confirm which regime applies on their actual filing date. Either way, the capital requirement is trivial next to the turnover tests. Those are the real trap.

The economics shifted sharply on 1 July 2026. That is when registration duty and land transfer tax on transfers of scheme property to non-citizens both doubled, from 5% to 10%, with no grandfathering. Reservations signed in 2025 that complete after that date pay the new rate. With roughly 10% duty going in and another 10% land transfer tax going out, round-trip friction now approaches 20% of the property's value, in a resale market that is thin and illiquid. That points to a hold of five to seven years before the PDS or Smart City route breaks even against simply renting.

The qualifying period rose from three to five years, effective September 2025. An Occupation Permit holder can apply for the 20-year Permanent Residence Permit after five years, but only against sustained thresholds. For investors, that means MUR 15m in annual turnover in each of the five years, or MUR 75m in aggregate over five consecutive years, evidenced in audited accounts. Keep in mind that permanent means 20 years, not forever. The government's own Passport and Immigration Office page was still publishing the superseded three-year criteria when checked in July 2026, so rely on the EDB rather than the PIO site.

For anyone over 50, the Retired Non-Citizen permit is among the cheapest retirement residences anywhere. You transfer at least USD 24,000 a year into a Mauritian bank account. That money stays yours to keep and spend, it is not a fee, though there is also a USD 50 application fee since 1 December 2025. Below 50, there is a hard age floor with no discretion, and the Premium Travel Visa is the only alternative. It is free of charge but requires proof of USD 1,500 a month per adult. Both sit in a jurisdiction with no capital gains, wealth or inheritance tax, and the remittance basis can bring a retiree's effective rate close to nil.