Inheritance Tax in Mauritius

Families asking about inheritance tax in Mauritius usually want one answer: how much will the heirs pay? The honest answer is that the question hides three separate ones. Is there a tax on the estate itself? Are there duties when a particular asset changes hands? And does the income that the assets later produce attract tax? This page treats them one at a time, then explains what a trust does and does not alter.

It is general information, not advice. The outcome depends on the assets, where the family lives and the wording of any will or trust deed, so an adviser should review your own facts.

Estate duty and succession duty: what the terms mean

Readers also search for estate duty in Mauritius and succession duty in Mauritius. Both terms describe a charge levied on the value of what a person leaves behind, or on what each heir receives. Several countries still apply such a charge, which is why people expect to find one here.

The sources behind this page do not describe a stand-alone estate duty or succession duty on the death of a person. What they describe is a set of taxes and duties that attach to specific events: transferring a property, receiving income from an asset, or distributing money from a structure. That distinction matters, because it shifts the planning question away from "how big is the estate?" and towards "which assets move, to whom, and through which route?".

Before relying on this reading for a real estate, confirm the current position with a Mauritian notary or tax adviser. Rules on duties change through the annual Finance Act.

What can be taxed when assets pass on

Immovable property

Land and buildings are where most family wealth sits, and where transfer costs are most visible. The Economic Development Board (EDB) guidelines on residential acquisitions by non-citizens, dated 2022-2023, give an example for an apartment (G+2): a registration duty of 5% of the value paid by the buyer and a land transfer tax of 5% paid by the seller. For a property worth at least USD 500,000 on land of more than 0.5276 hectare, an additional duty of 10% of the value is payable by the buyer.

Those figures describe sales to non-citizens under that regime. They are not a death duty, and they should not be applied to an inheritance without checking how the transfer is documented. They do show the logic of the system: the charge follows the deed that moves the property.

The Finance Act 2026 (Act No. 14 of 2026, assented to on 12 August 2026) added a further 10% duty under the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act on a deed transferring a dwelling built on State land or Pas Géométriques to a non-citizen. It is paid by the transferor, not the transferee, and it does not apply where a notarised promise of sale or reservation contract was signed before 19 June 2026. Families holding that type of property should have it reviewed individually.

Income from inherited assets

Receiving an asset is one event; earning from it is another. Rental income, interest and dividends are taxed under the ordinary income tax rules, whoever the owner is. For individuals, the schedule from the income year beginning on 1 July 2026 is 0% on the first 500,000 rupees, 10% on the next 500,000, 20% on the next 11 million and 35% on the remainder.

Dividends paid by a Mauritian-resident company are exempt from income tax in the hands of the recipient under the Second Schedule, with no withholding tax on those dividends. That rule concerns the shareholder, not the company, and it does not decide how a deceased person's shares are transferred.

Where the owner lived

Which country taxes an estate often depends on the tax residence of the deceased and of the heirs, and on the location of the assets. Residence is covered on other sites and is not developed here. Mauritius has a network of double taxation agreements, and the MRA lists 45 in force (its page carries an update note of 24 August 2021). Whether one of them helps an heir depends on the treaty and on the tax in question.

What a trust changes, and what it does not

A trust is a way of holding assets, not a way of making tax disappear. Its effect on inheritance planning is mainly about continuity and control.

How the trust itself is taxed

Under the Income Tax Act 1995, consolidated to the Finance Act 2026, every trust is taxable on its taxable income at the Part IV rate of the First Schedule, which is 15%. Section 46(4) treats any distribution to a beneficiary as a dividend in the beneficiary's hands.

Earlier practice offered an exemption to non-resident trusts that filed a declaration of non-residence. The Finance Act 2021 repealed section 46(3) with deemed effect from 1 July 2021, and the exemption no longer appears in the current consolidated text. Section 46(2) still describes trusts with a non-resident settlor and non-resident beneficiaries, or a purpose trust whose purpose is carried out outside Mauritius, but such a trust is taxed at the same 15%. Anyone reading older material that speaks of an exemption should treat it as out of date.

For the full picture, see how trusts are taxed in Mauritius and tax on distributions to beneficiaries.

Foundations follow the same pattern

Section 49A of the Income Tax Act taxes a Foundation at the same Part IV rate of 15%, and treats distributions as dividends. The former exemption for a Foundation with non-resident founder and beneficiaries was repealed from 1 July 2021 by the Finance Act 2021. A charitable institution, Foundation or trust appears among the exempt bodies in Part I of the Second Schedule. Details are in how foundations are taxed.

Succession rules and the non-citizen settlor

Section 8 of the Trusts Act 2001 allows a settlor to be also a trustee, a beneficiary, a protector or an enforcer, though not the sole beneficiary. It also provides that a transfer made by a non-citizen settlor cannot be set aside under the succession rules of that person's domicile or nationality. The Foundations Act 2012 (sections 3 and 4) contains a comparable rule for a non-citizen founder.

That protection is narrow. It speaks to succession rules, not to tax, and it says nothing about transfers made by Mauritian citizens. For the position of citizens and the reserved share of children, read forced heirship and trusts in Mauritius.

A practical way to think about it

Questions to settle with an adviser

• List each asset, its location and its current owner
• Record the tax residence of the owner and of each likely heir
• Check whether any property is State land or Pas Géométriques
• Decide whether a will, a trust or both will carry the plan
• Confirm how a distribution will be taxed in the heir's hands
• Review the plan after each Finance Act

How a trust compares with a will for passing assets on

A will operates when its maker dies and passes through the succession process. A trust can hold assets from the start and continue after the settlor's death. Neither route is a tax strategy in itself. For a side-by-side view, read trust or will for passing on assets, and for the practical effect at death, what happens to a trust when the settlor dies. If no will exists, who inherits when there is no will sets out the default order.

You can also ask for an analysis of your own situation through the contact form, which is relayed to an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).