There is no inheritance tax in Mauritius — that part is true. But two nuances catch owners out. First, the Mauritian Civil Code's forced heirship (réserve héréditaire) applies to property situated in Mauritius: a reserved share is set aside for your children (the proportion depending on how many you have, as in French law), so you cannot freely disinherit even though there is no local death tax. Second, an heir who is a French tax resident remains liable to French inheritance tax on the Mauritian property — the France–Mauritius tax treaty does not remove that obligation. These points must be confirmed with a Mauritian notary and a French fiscaliste for your situation.
No inheritance tax — but forced heirship still binds you
Mauritius levies no inheritance or estate tax, which is a genuine attraction for wealth planning. But 'no inheritance tax' is not the same as 'freedom to leave the property to whomever you wish'. Mauritian succession follows a civil-law model derived from the French Code Civil, and that model includes the réserve héréditaire — forced heirship. A fixed reserved portion of your estate is legally set aside for your protected heirs, principally your children, and the share that you can freely dispose of (the quotité disponible) is what remains after that reserve.
The reserved fraction rises with the number of children — broadly, the more children, the larger the collective reserve and the smaller the freely-disposable portion — mirroring the French mechanism. Because the property is situated in Mauritius, Mauritian forced-heirship rules govern its devolution regardless of where you are resident. If your estate plan assumes you can leave a Mauritian villa entirely to a spouse, a partner or a single child, that plan may not survive contact with the réserve. Have a Mauritian notary map the reserved shares for your family before you assume otherwise.
The French tax-resident trap on a Mauritian asset
The second, frequently-missed point is cross-border tax. Even though Mauritius imposes no inheritance tax, a French tax-resident heir inheriting the Mauritian property generally remains within the scope of French inheritance tax (droits de succession). France taxes its residents on worldwide inheritances, and the France–Mauritius tax treaty does not eliminate this liability — so the absence of a Mauritian death tax does not mean the estate escapes tax altogether if French residents are involved.
This matters most for French families using Mauritius as a second home: the Mauritian side is tax-free at death, but the French side may not be, and the interaction of forced heirship, the treaty and French succession tax can be intricate. Planning tools (how title is held, marriage regime, any structure) should be considered before purchase, not after death. Treat both the Mauritian réserve héréditaire and the French tax exposure as points to confirm — with a Mauritian notary and a French fiscaliste respectively — for your specific family and residence situation.
Sources
Primary and expert sources behind this answer:
- MauritiusLII — Mauritian legislation (Civil Code / forced heirship, Succession Act, Income Tax Act, Citizenship Act) ↗
- impots.gouv.fr — France–Mauritius double-taxation convention (inheritance and income) ↗
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Mauritian property, residence, succession and tax rules are technical and change frequently — notably the 1 July 2026 registration-duty change. Every figure and rule here must be confirmed with a Mauritian notary (notaire), a tax adviser (fiscaliste) or a lawyer for your specific situation before you act.
Related questions
Explore our guides and listings
Buying property in Mauritius? Get an independent read first.
GADAIT is an independent luxury buyer's agent. We confirm the scheme, the tax, the residence reality and the real all-in cost for your specific case — before you commit.
Newsletter
Be among the privileged.
Subscribe to the Gadait International newsletter and receive the latest trends in the luxury market, along with exclusive opportunities for exceptional properties in advance.
Low frequency. High relevance.