<h4 class="p1"><span class="s1">Thanks to their advantageous tax frameworks, both Mauritius and Portugal have become popular destinations, particularly for French retirees. Here's a detailed look at the pros and cons of each country;</span></h4>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">Europe's Florida" for the <strong>Portugal</strong>Comma; "the pearl of the Indian Ocean" for Mauritius&&num;8230&semi; There's no shortage of glowing terms to describe these two destinations&comma; which in the space of just a few years have become veritable tax havens&comma; especially for retirees&period; What are the advantages of each and the mistakes to avoid before taking the plunge&quest;</span></p>&NewLine;<h4 class="p3"><span class="s1">Becoming a non-habitual resident in Portugal</span></h4>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">The <strong>Portugal</strong> has become a favorite destination for French expatriates&period; <a href="https://vivreauportugalconsulting.com/kit-expatriation/" target="_blank">Thanks to the RNH status</a> &lpar;non-habitual resident&rpar;&comma; retired expatriates are exempt from&rsquo&semi;tax for ten years&comma; provided they&rsquo&semi;spend at least 183 days a year there and have not been a tax resident for the last five years&period; A very attractive measure introduced in January 2013&comma; which is aimed as much at wealthy retirees &&num;8211&semi; the country has neither ISF nor inheritance taxes &&num;8211&semi; as it is at the most modest&comma; who see their purchasing power multiplied by around 40 &percnt; compared with France&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">So much so that the French have become the leading foreign real estate investors in <strong>Portugal</strong> in 2016 &lpar;3&percnt;300 transactions&rpar;&comma; ahead of the British and the Chinese&period; Thus&comma; one foreign buyer in four was French in the first quarter of the&rsquo&semi;year&comma; according to the&rsquo&semi;association of Portuguese real estate professionals Apemip&period;;Portuguese property professionals Apemip&period; 80&percnt; of these are retired private-sector employees&comma; but they also include liberal professions &lpar;technicians&comma; architects&comma; engineers&comma; artists&comma; health professionals&comma; etc&period;&rpar;&comma; <a href="https://vivreauportugalconsulting.com/regime-fiscal-du-resident-non-habituel/" target="_blank">RNH status</a> allowing them to be taxed at only 20 &percnt; on their income generated and received in France. <strong>Portugal</strong>&period; <i>"The majority of requests do not come from very wealthy French people&comma; but from middle-class retirees who often already had plans to retire in the South or abroad&comma; and the&rsquo&semi;tax advantage directed them to the <strong>Portugal</strong></i><strong> </strong>"&comma; explains Cécile Goncalves&comma; director of the French-Portuguese real estate agency Maison au Portugal&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">However, without calling into question the status of the <a href="https://vivreauportugalconsulting.com/faq-statut-de-rnh/faq-sur-le-statut-de-rnh-suite/">RNH</a>&comma; <i>"the changes in legislation brought about by the new left-wing majority in <strong>Portugal</strong> could mitigate a number of advantages of the current tax system".</i>&comma; says Xavier Rohmer&comma; partner at August Debouzy &lpar;lire ci-dessous&rpar;&period; The Portuguese Finance Bill for 2017&comma; which could still be subject to numerous amendments&comma; provides for new tax measures&comma; including in particular the introduction of a specific &lpar;tax of 0&comma;3 &percnt; on the cadastral value of property&rpar; aimed at owners on their real estate assets above&rsquo&semi;a certain amount&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<h4 class="p3"><span class="s1">Mauritius &colon; not just for the ultra-rich</span></h4>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">Contrary to the image that Mauritius sometimes wrongly gives, you don't have to be a multimillionaire to expatriate there&period; <i>"It is quite possible to buy an apartment for a few hundred thousand euros in an area reserved for foreigners".</i>This main island of the Republic of Mauritius is more than eleven hours' flight from France, but with only a two-hour time difference, and the Mauritians are fluent in French&period; <i>"There are an estimated 10,000 French nationals living in Mauritius, most of them expatriate executives and professionals of all kinds, but there are also between 1,500 and 2,000 retired couples living there, whether or not they are Mauritian tax residents.</i>To revitalize the economy, the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry has set itself the goal of attracting 200,000 foreign retirees within the next four years&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<h4 class="p3"><span class="s1">Cascading benefits</span></h4>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">In addition to its mild year-round climate, crystal-clear waters, sandy beaches and a cost of living 20 to 30 times lower than in France, Mauritius also offers investors a highly advantageous tax environment;</span></p>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">First of all, it allows them to exclude real estate acquired in Mauritius from their wealth tax base, even if they remain tax residents in France&period; It then offers those who acquire Mauritian tax residence a number of advantages&colon; a flat-rate tax of 15 &percnt; on income&comma; no social security contributions&comma; no property tax or&rsquo&semi;habitation tax&comma; no tax on the <span class="s2">added value</span>No French wealth tax (ISF) & A <span class="s2">VAT</span> of 15 &percnt;&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<h4 class="p3"><span class="s1">Obtaining a Mauritian resident permit</span></h4>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">The easiest way for a French person to become the full owner of a property in Mauritius is to invest in an integrated resort scheme;<span class="s2">IRS</span>&rpar; or "real estate scheme" &lpar;<span class="s2">RES</span>&rpar;&comma; grouped together and replaced by the "property development scheme" &lpar;PDS&rpar; in 2015&period; If the value of the PDS property purchased exceeds 500&period;000 dollars &lpar;ancien IRS&rpar; and if the other conditions for obtaining Mauritian tax residency are met &lpar;y to live there six months a year&&num;8230&semi;&rpar;&comma; the&rsquo&semi;If the value invested is less than &lpar;former RES&rpar;&comma; he will be able to reside in Mauritius for up to&rsquo&semi;six months in the&rsquo&semi;year&comma; but tax residency will not be granted&period; For those who purchased property before 2015&comma; the IRS and RES systems remain valid&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">Mauritius is not sought-after for its low rental yields&comma; period; On the other hand, developers are offering attractive potential capital gains &lpar;average capital gains of 25 &percnt; on an average holding period of four years in the IRS Anahita&comma; for example&rpar;&comma; but a thorough examination of the quality of the program&comma; the developer's financial guarantees and its anchoring in the Mauritian economy are essential&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<h4 class="p3"><span class="s1">A recent opening</span></h4>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><span class="s1">Another warning&colon; it is true that today the country enjoys&rsquo&semi;stability in its political and legal system&comma; but <i>"The opening of the real estate market to foreigners thanks to RES&comma; IRS status is less than fifteen years old&period; Before&comma; freehold and sustainable investment did not exist&period; The Mauritian market has evolved and adopted international standards in recent years&comma; but this is still relatively recent for investors who appreciate the benefit of hindsight".</i>Guillaume Levêque warns&period; In his office&comma; requests from French retirees to move to Mauritius have fallen since the Portuguese RNH status came into competition in 2011&period; <i>"The lesser distance for retired people&comma; the European culture&comma; the presence in the euro zone and the less elitist image of the <strong>Portugal</strong> &&num;8211&semi; the average investment in either country is roughly equivalent &lpar;between 500&period;000 and 600&period;000 euros&rpar; &&num;8211&semi; benefit the latter</i> "he explains&period;</span></p>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><a href="http://patrimoine.lesechos.fr/impots/defiscalisation/0211462640600-le-match-ile-maurice-portugal-2041875.php" target="_blank">Source</a></p>&NewLine;<p class="p2"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1322" src="https://vivreauportugalconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2041875_0211473770156_web_tete.jpg" alt="iles maurice vs portugal" width="1000" height="2245" /></p>&NewLine;
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